The Ice Devil's Angel
by Queen of GraCy
Summary: What if Gray wasn't second place to Natsu? What if he was the youngest to become S-class, even before Erza? What if Gray already had Devil Slayer Magic? What if Lucy knew Holy Magic? And what if Lucy met Gray first? My version of Fairy Tail w/ Gray x Lucy as the main pairing. May later be rated M (not sure yet).
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_**So here's a story I've been wanting to start for some time. Basically, Gray has more spotlight and is S-class, and Lucy doesn't use Celestial magic and all that. They're different from the original characters, but they contain a similar aspect. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters. The plot is the only thing that belongs to me.**_

_**Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :D**_

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**The Ice Devil's Angel**

**Prologue**

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A raven-haired boy of seven stood in the midst of chaos. He could only watch in horror as his beloved mother was crushed in the hands of the demon of Zeref, Deliora. He stared, petrified, as the large monster wreaked havoc amongst his village, turning it into a frozen wasteland. Before he knew it, the hellish thing was making its way toward him. He couldn't move, he really couldn't, so he was quite surprised to find that he was suddenly scooped into his father's arms. Just as the ugly demon was about to crush them with his large fist, his father, Silver, used teleportation magic and whisked them away a few blocks away.

"Gray, where's your mother?"

He couldn't say anything. Instead, he shook his head, silent tears streaming down his face. In response, his father tightened his grip around him into a protective embrace. It was nice and soothing, even with the chaos that was not too far away.

"I'm sorry," Silver apologized, his voice unusually soft.

Gray widened his eyes and looked up at him. "Dad?" He felt his dad's grip slacken before his hands gripped his shoulders. "What are you talking about? You didn't…"

"They found out."

"Huh?"

There was a brief silence. Silver finally looked at Gray with a pained expression. One filled with regret and guilt of the past.

"It wants to kill me."

"What…are you talking about?!"

His father wordlessly grabbed his right arm, and that's when he felt it. He felt a coldness rush through his veins and course through his body. It was chilling, dark, and powerful. Suddenly, it was gone, just like that, but he could still feel its presence inside him, lurking, waiting. His forearm tingled and burned for good measure before it settled. He looked down, and to his surprise, he saw an intricate tattoo covering it.

"Wh-What is this?!"

"It is the mark of a devil slayer."

"…Magic? But you said you never–"

Silver knelt down and held Gray's head in his rough, calloused hands. He looked him dead in the eye, which immediately shut up Gray from saying anything else. The seven-year-old could only stare into the mystic depths of his father's eyes that were so much like his own.

"Don't let it consume you."

Gray's gut clenched and unclenched uncomfortably. He had so many questions, but it seemed his father wouldn't answer any of them. There was no time. He felt his dad touch his forehead against his. It was a comforting gesture, yet at the same time it felt like this moment together was their last. It was their goodbye.

"I love you, Gray. Be strong."

His father's grip slackened, and his warmth was lost in the cold air. Suddenly, Gray felt a smack at the back of his head, and he was falling. He felt his body hit the cold ground, but the snow didn't bite his skin like it was supposed too. Instead, it felt like nothing to him; it didn't bother him in the slightest. What felt strange were the salty, hot tears that dripped onto his face. Gray's vision swam as he looked up, but he could see it, and it made him well up fresh tears as well.

His dad was crying.

Gray felt his eyes slowly close as he saw his father turned his back to him and slowly walked away. _COME BACK! PLEASE! YOU'LL DIE! _Gray tried screaming, but he could only stretch his arm to his father's retreating figure. His arm collapsed as his eyes finally dropped shut. He didn't know how long it took for him to open them, but the next time he did, he saw what he never wished to believe. And it was enough for darkness to plant itself in his heart, yet his resolve for it to never consume him was strong enough to keep it at bay. For now.

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A six-year-old girl with blonde, golden hair sat next to her bedridden mother and held her pale hand with her small warm one. She was a tiny carbon copy of the older woman, and she was gifted with her beautiful features, and she would only blossom into a beautiful woman with years to come.

"But momma, why can't I be a celestial mage like you?" the little girl whined.

"Because, my dear Lucy," her mother, Layla, said with a smile, "you hold something much greater."

Lucy stared, confused. "But…I'm not holding anything…"

Layla giggled and poked at Lucy's heart. "I meant there, baby girl."

"In my chest?"

"In your heart, silly."

"Ooooh," Lucy replied, nodding and pretending to understand. "So…uh, what does that mean?"

"Your heart, Lucy, is so pure. I can feel magic pulsing in it. It is radiant, it is beautiful, and it is a gift. When the time comes, it will unlock."

"But…where did it come from?"

Layla smiled. "I don't know, sweetie."

"But I thought that people had to be taught magic to use it?"

"That is not always the case. Some have the potential, and they are able to create and unlock their own magic. "

"Why can't everyone do that?"

Layla hummed in thought. She just loved it when her baby girl got curious because her questions made her think as well. "I think that's because your intention to use magic is pure," she finally replied. "To protect, to save, to shelter, to help, to preserve..."

"Oh, I see now," Lucy said with a beaming smile.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Layla asked while pinching her daughter's cheeks.

"Because I want to do all those with my magic!"

Layla froze, awed and mystified at the same time.

"All of them?"

Lucy nodded. "All of them!"

Layla smiled gently. "I can already tell your magic will be a beautiful one. You're almost like a little angel that fell from heaven."

Lucy giggled, and Layla couldn't help but laugh with her. But…her laughter suddenly turned into violent coughing. She tried to suppress in with her hand. Lucy watched in horror when her mother started coughing up blood. She started screaming for Ms. Spetto. The older maid came running in with the doctor, and they shooed little Lucy out.

Lucy paced and paced, debating whether or not to tell her father, Jude, about it. She decided against, knowing it would put him in even grouchier mood than usual. It saddened her when she thought about. When her mother started getting ill, her father started burying himself in his work as if everything was okay. However, little Lucy knew that her father only did it for the sake of being strong in front of her and because the more work daddy did, the more money he got, so he could send for the best doctors in Fiore.

The little blonde's train of thought was interrupted when the doors to her mother's room were opened with a very nervous looking Ms. Spetto and doctor.

"Will Momma be okay?" Lucy asked.

The doctor nodded. "She's okay."

"Can I go back in?"

The doctor nodded. "Not for long. You have to let your mother rest up too."

It was quiet when Lucy entered Layla's room with the exception of her mother's own shallow breathing.

"Lucy," her mother finally croaked.

"Yes, momma?" she replied in the same forlorn tone.

"I don't have much time."

Little Lucy's heart gripped in her chest. Her mother's eyes looked at her sadly, but Lucy could only feel confused.

"But the doctor said–"

"H-He's lying, sweetie."

Tears welled up in Lucy's eyes. "But…you're okay now!"

Layla smiled bitterly, but her expression softened when her baby girl started hiccupping and crying uncontrollably. She opened the covers to her bed.

"Come here, baby girl."

Lucy listened and cuddled in next to her mother. She trembled and quaked at the thought of her mother joining the stars up in the skies. She felt her mother's frail arms wrap around her. She felt her mother's fingers comb through her hair, and almost immediately, Lucy felt her fears subside for the time being. It was when her mother started singing that she felt better and reassured.

_"Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be all right_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound."_

Her mother continued to hum the melody, and little Lucy felt her eyes softly close, and she fell into a peaceful slumber.

"I love you, Lucy," Layla whispered. "Please be strong for me and Daddy." She kissed her daughter on the forehead. "And for yourself, my selfless little angel."

Lucy woke up feeling cold that morning. She turned to her mother, who lied peacefully beside her. She tried to wake her up, but it was in vain. She pressed her head to her mother's chest and stopped breathing when she couldn't hear a heartbeat or even a shallow breath. Her mother was gone, her mentor of magic, of love, feelings, life, everything, but Lucy would do whatever it took to make her mother proud and fulfill her own dreams like her mother would have wanted her to do.

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_**So that is the Prologue (000) my friends. Hope you liked that! And please let me know what you think! That would be awesome. **_

_**Stay tuned!**_


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_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters. The plot is the only thing that belongs to me.**_

_**Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :D**_

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**The Ice Devil's Angel**

**Chapter One**

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Gray sighed as he made his way through the bustling of the crowd in the train station of Clover Town. It was only a short time later when he was able to arrive at station six, which would depart for Hargeon, the port city, in a about a good fifteen minutes. He showed his ticket to the female train attendant, who shamelessly undressed him with her eyes, before registering it and directing him where he needed to go.

"Why the hell did Mira have to say anything...?" he grumbled under his breath as he made his way down the train to first class.

He just finished two S-class jobs near Clover Town, and he was just about ready to go home and take a well-needed rest from the overwhelming guild. But the old man just had to send him a message to watch Natsu and make sure he didn't destroy anything in Hargeon. When he asked why, Makarov just told him that Mira mentioned about a rumor of a "Salamander" in Hargeon, and before anyone could blink, the flaming pink-haired idiot left. What Gray couldn't understand was how stupid Natsu could be to think it would be Igneel… Like, why the hell would a dragon show up in the middle of town?

The disgruntled teen could only run a hand through his raven hair in irritation and annoyance. Of all the things he could be doing right now, he just had to do this… That damn Natsu…

Gray continued walking until he made it to his first class cabin. He slid the door open and entered without taking in his surroundings, but he could feel a magic presence. It was strange to say the least. He had never felt such a…calming magic? No, that wasn't quite the word. He shrugged and decided to think nothing of it as he placed his bag under his seat. It was when he sat down that he registered the woman containing the peaceful magic. And boy was he surprised.

Sitting across from him was a girl about his age reading a book, and the first thing he noticed was she had the most amazing golden blonde hair. It gleamed and illuminated in the sunlight, almost as if she had a halo. It was long and neatly put into a French braid with some few loose strands framing her face. What really completed the ethereal, heavenly look was her apparel, which consisted only of a simple, white summer dress accompanied by some golden sandals. It was a bit surreal for him, and it didn't help the fact that her magic was just oozing with warmth, which sharply contrasted to his own magic. He could feel his magic reacting inside him in some way. He couldn't really describe it. It was just…unsettling.

Gray heaved a tired sigh and leaned his head against the window while gazing outside. This was going to be one hell of a long ride if he continued feeling like this.

"I'm sorry," she apologized suddenly, almost as if she sensed his discomfort. "Am I bothering you?"

He snapped gaze to her and was about to say "yes" when his midnight blue eyes clashed with her own chocolate brown ones. His voice suddenly left him, as he got lost in their brown, never-ending depths. He was able to rip his eyes away from hers after a few moments and scanned her angelic face. A natural beauty. Gray clenched his jaw before turning his eyes away uncomfortably toward the window. It wasn't that he was nervous because of her looks – all the girls in Fairy Tail were pretty – he was just unnerved by her magical aura resonating from her. Although, he had to admit, her appearance was a factor as well.

Gray cleared his throat. "No, nothing of the sort."

She hummed and began reading her book again. "Glad to hear that."

He looked at her again, but this time as if she were some sort of specimen. He watched as her brows furrowed as if she remembered something. She glanced up at him peculiarly, scanning his face critically.

"You look familiar," she said. "Do I know you?"

For some reason, he almost felt slightly disappointed that she didn't.

"Gray Fullbuster."

Her eyes widened. "Of Fairy Tail?"

"The one and only."

"Wow, no wonder you seemed familiar," she smiled. "Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy."

Friendly, was the first thought that came to his mind. Her smile was radiant and contagious, although he could only crack a small, crooked smile in return. Genuine, was the second thought that popped into his mind as he memorized her dazzling smile.

"Pleasure's all mine," he said, and somehow knew he really meant it.

It was quiet after that, but not uncomfortable. He was thankful actually because he was getting some shuteye for the first time in two days because of the nonstop traveling he had done. He didn't realize how much it took a toll on him mentally, but he felt it was a well-deserved rest. Besides, he had enough of an earful from the old man and Erza demanding him to make sure Natsu didn't blow Hargeon off the map of Fiore.

Gray didn't know how much time passed, but he could hear Lucy saying something and that was when he woke up. He gave a small groan and rubbed his eyes before opening them to see she was receiving a platter of food and a cup of tea from the male train attendant.

She smiled kindly at him. "Thank you very much. It looks absolutely delicious."

"No problem, miss," the male train attendant said before leaving.

Lucy turned to her tea and placed only one cube of sugar in it. She hummed softly while mixing. After a few seconds, she clanked her small spoon softly before setting it down on her small dish. She grabbed a small plate and grabbed the food that was nearly arranged on the silver tray before them.

"Help yourself," she said, noticing he was awake.

Gray grabbed a dish. "Don't mind if I do."

After their lunch, the male attendant came by again and cleared it up. Lucy began reading in her small book again, and Gray was tiredly leaning against the window. As time passed, he grew bored and slightly curious.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's bringing you to Hargeon?"

"Well, two reasons, really," she began, looking up from her book. "Originally, I wanted to pay a visit to Fairy Tail, and see it with my own eyes. I thought it'd be fun. I was actually thinking of joining, to be honest. But, oh, I don't know. I'm a bit intimidated."

"You know magic?" Gray asked, more curious.

"Ah, yes," Lucy replied shyly, looking away with tinted cheeks.

Gray felt himself smirk. "Nothing to be shy about." He found her shyness quite endearing. "What's your magic?"

"Holy Magic…"

He raised a brow. "I've never heard of it before."

"Um, well, it's my own."

Gray felt his eyes widen a fraction, but he immediately recomposed himself. He stared at her with newfound interest. "A type of pure magic then?"

Lucy nodded. "Right."

He stared thoughtfully out the window. All this was quite groundbreaking, really. There were not many mages with pure magic in the wizarding world, and there was a theory that pure magic was the closest magic to the One Magic, the source of all magic in the universe. It was peculiar though. Now that he thought about it, both Erza and Lucy were pure mages, and he felt that same uneasiness. More so with Lucy than Erza, which possibly meant the blonde had the potential to surpass the redhead, but that was somewhat unlikely considering how inexperienced Lucy seemed to be with using her magic.

Gray looked at her more intensely with narrowed eyes.

Then why did he feel so restless? Was her magic just simply such a contrast to his own that his magic was reacting to it out of agitation?

"Hm, just like Erza then," he finally said.

"_The _Erza Scarlet?!" Lucy shook her head furiously. "I am _far _from her level!"

Gray chuckled. "Your second reason?"

"Well…I heard about 'Salamander' from Fairy Tail, so I thought I'd stop by along the way since Hargeon is close to Magnolia."

"Funny," Gray said.

"Hmm?"

"I was going to check out this 'Salamander' as well."

"But…" Lucy's brows furrowed in confusion. "You're from the same guild, so why…?"

"Long story short, I think someone's posing as him."

Lucy widened her eyes. "So he's a fake?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

She pouted. "Well, there's goes my wasted money…"

Gray thought her presence itself was unnerving, but it was even more unsettling when she looked upset.

"Tell you what. I'll introduce you to the real Salamander, although I doubt you'll be that impressed. Then I could take you for a swing by Fairy Tail. How does that sound?" he offered before he could stop himself.

Lucy's eyes sparkled in delight. "That would be great! Thank you!"

"Who know, maybe you'll join at the end of the day."

She smiled. "I think I will."

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It was maybe about an hour later when Lucy and Gray arrived at Hargeon. They grabbed the small stuff that they had and began walking through the town. It was Lucy's first time in the port town, and she could help but admire everything. It was so pretty! The fresh air was nice for a change, and the town looked absolutely amiable. The atmosphere was cheerful and light, and Lucy cherished it since she was so used to growing up in a confined household with high expectations.

"It's so beautiful…" she couldn't help but say.

"It is," Gray agreed after a moment.

Lucy glanced at him with curiosity as they continued walking down the cobblestone path. "I take it you've seen something better in your travels as a mage?"

He glanced back at her, this time, with a thoughtful look.

"Hm," he replied, looking ahead of him once again. "Perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

"Depends on what kind of beauty you mean," Gray explained.

"What kind?" Lucy echoed.

"Fake beauty, tragic beauty, dark beauty, natural beauty" – he looked at her – "inner beauty…"

"Wow, I never thought of it like that," Lucy said with a thoughtful hum. "But I guess…the breathtaking kind! Where it makes you feel good to be alive."

"Feel good to be alive," Gray murmured, staring off into the distance. "I'm not exactly sure…"

The blonde could feel her magic shift uncomfortably as he said that. "There has to be something…" she said.

Lucy looked at the Fairy Tail mage more critically than before. She watched him as they continued to walk through the bustling town. For some reason, she felt the need for him to find a memory, even if it was rather small. His demeanor and the perspective of how he saw things interested her, but she felt he was almost bitter towards the world. Her magic could sense it. Under all the calm and collected façade, there was something dark lurking within him. It made her nervous, yet it made sense as to why she immediately took an interest in him. Her magic was holy and pure; it always searched for darkness, so it could cleanse it. And ever since she met Gray, it had been telling her that his magic was powerful and used for good yet there was something vile at bay. He was able to control now, but…

"There was this one time," he finally said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I don't remember clearly, but I do remember that I helped my mother with something, and she smiled, and it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. It made me feel good, but I don't know if that's what you meant…"

A gentle smile spread across Lucy's lips when she saw Gray have an almost soft look in his eyes from the memory. Her magic shifted happily within her in response to what he said. He looked at her, and immediately, his hypnotic, midnight, blue eyes changed back to its usual mysteriousness.

"What?"

Lucy felt her smile grow larger and looked away. "Nothing, but that's what I meant."

It was silent for a few moments until the two of them came upon a flower boutique and right across from it was a bar.

"I'll be right back," Gray said. "I'm going to ask for information about the rumors in the bar."

"Okay," she nodded as he left.

Lucy's entire face lit up when she saw all the neatly arranged flowers for sale across the street. With a sudden skip in her step, she walked up to the vendor, who was a nice old lady.

"Ma'am, you have such gorgeous arrangements!"

The old lady looked surprised. "Why, thank you!"

"You wouldn't mind if I just took a look around, would you?"

The woman laughed and shook her head. "Not at all! Go right on ahead, dearie!"

Lucy happily scanned through the flowers, taking the time to take in the beautiful arrangement. She slightly leaned forward and smelt the array of gloxinia flowers. She sighed in content. She didn't know how long she did it, but she was so engrossed that the sudden voice that spoke to her made her jump.

"Who's the handsome lad with you?" the old lady suddenly asked. "Looks a bit familiar… Are you both together?"

Lucy glanced up in surprise. "Oh, um…" She turned to stare across the street to see Gray just exit the bar, and this time, she actually took the time to look at him.

The fresh Hargeon breeze caught his white coat and caused it to sway behind him and open up a little bit, so she was able to see the tight, black sleeveless shirt underneath. It left little to imagination; she could see the outline of his muscles and abs. She also saw the silver necklace that hung around his neck. From afar, she couldn't tell what the pendant was, but she remembered it being a silver cross. The cool breeze also caused his raven hair to sway gently and look slightly tousled. Then his eyes, his midnight blue eyes were nothing but a mystery, and it only accentuated the handsome features of his sculpted face. The aura of his magic only added to its intensity, and that's when Lucy finally understood what he meant by dark beauty. With how handsome he looked combined with the darkness of his magic, it was almost sinful. The darkness wasn't on the surface, but it was deep down waiting. Waiting to break to the surface and take over.

Lucy's magic stirred.

She lost her words for a moment. She shook her head to snap out of it and looked back at the lady. "That's Gray Fullbuster."

The old woman's gasped. "Gray Fullbuster _the _Ice Devil?"

"Um…yes?"

"You both are such an adorable pair!"

"Uh, we–we're not together," Lucy said uncomfortably. "I just met him on the train. He's taking me to visit Fairy Tail."

"Just met?" the woman repeated, incredulous. "I could've sworn…" she trailed off with a pensive expression.

"Ma'am?"

"Hm, nothing, dearie," she waved off. "It's just I was a mage myself back in the day, so I sensed that his magic and your magic were compatible."

Lucy was speechless.

The old woman giggled and shook her head. "You can take the a gloxinia flower for free since you seem to like it so much."

"But–"

The old woman wordlessly picked a pink gloxinia and placed it behind her ear. She took a step back to take a better look. She smiled. "You're quite the beauty. Take care, dearie."

"Lucy?"

Said girl whirled around to see Gray looking at her curiously. She briefly noted how tall he was. She only came to his chest!

"Oh, did you get some information already?"

"I did..." His brows furrowed in confusion. "Whom were you talking to?"

Lucy turned back around. "I was talking to–" She stopped when she saw no one at the flower boutique. She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. That was odd. "There was a kind, old lady here just a moment ago…"

It was strange because there was magic residue indicating that someone had been there only moments ago. She shrugged and turned back to Gray to see him frowning. He looked perplexed. He probably felt the same magical residue.

"Doesn't matter," he finally said, flicking his narrowed eyes back to the boutique every now and then. His eyes finally settled on the pink gloxinia flower behind her ear. "Nice flower by the way."

"Thank you! It's a pretty little thing, isn't it?" she said with a smile.

"It is."

"Oh yeah, what did you find out?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Not much. Only that this so-called Salamander is inviting a lot of his fangirls to his ship for some fancy party tonight."

"Party?"

"Beats me," Gray said with a shrug. "But it does clarify that it sure isn't the real Salamander. The idiot has motion sickness, so he wouldn't even dare step on a boat."

"Is the real one here?"

"Yeah, he left the guild when he heard about this Salamander."

"Is it because he knows that someone is posing as him?"

Gray scoffed. "Hardly. He thinks it's his foster dad, who was a dragon."

There was a slight pause as Lucy registered this.

"But why in the world would a dragon be in the middle of a town?!" she finally asked, incredulous. She imagined the majestic creature lounging around the port and breathing fire at anyone who disturbed him. She shook her head at the idiocy of it all.

"Exactly," Gray deadpanned.

Lucy giggled. "I can't wait to meet him. He sounds like quite the character."

"You have no idea…"

Before anything else could be said, a huge crowd of rabid fangirls came running down the street squealing in excitement. They were like a stampede of bulls, charging at whatever was in their way. They came at an alarming speed that Lucy didn't know what to do. She felt Gray grab her forearm and quickly pull her to the side beside him just in time as the group of fangirls swamped pass them and went further into the heart of town, screaming Salamander this and Salamander that.

"That was close," Lucy said.

Gray let go of her forearm. "Well, at least we know where go."

"Oh Lord," was all Lucy could say as they trailed after the group of fangirls.

It didn't take long to find them. They were easily spotted from far away, surrounding a lone figure, who was probably the man posing as Salamander. From afar, she couldn't say much, but she wondered why all the women were going crazy to the point of having hearts as their eyes. When they came closer to the crowd, Gray pushed their way in to the front, and there he was.

The so-called Salamander was a relatively tall man with mildly short, spiky, dark blue hair that was swept to the side. He had an almost rectangular shape to his face and possessed sharp facial features. The most distinctive thing on his face was a dark tattoo covering the right side of his forehead. Living up to his importer role as Salamander, he wore a dark, high-collared cape, which was fastened together below his collar by a gold stylized flame. To add to all that, he had a sleazy smile to his face as he easily charmed the crowd of fangirls, and that's when Lucy noticed the charm ring he had on his finger. To top it all off, his magic was revolting. She could sense in his magic the willingness to use it for his own purposes and to cheat people. She was snapped out of her thoughts when the fake Salamander's eyes clashed with hers. He flashed her that sleazy smile and winked.

Lucy took a step back.

"Lucy?" Gray asked.

"He…his…" Lucy swallowed. "His magic is…repulsive." She could feel Gray looking at her curiously, so she went on. "He's using his magic to…to–"

"I know…"

Lucy looked up at him with wide eyes. He almost said it sympathetically; like it was her first time realizing what people could to with their magic and how corrupt someone could become. And he was right. She only left the confinement of her household recently, so she didn't know the extent the corruption of magic could do to a person and how far they would go to get what they wanted.

Gray took a step forward and the air around him was chilling, literally. It was like below freezing! It looked like he was about to release some magic when a guy with spiky, rosy, pink hair burst through the crowd with an ear-splitting grin on his face. The first thing Lucy noted was his magic; it was old, warm, and soothing, yet she could sense something within the depths of his magic. She couldn't tell what it was, so she brushed it off.

"Igneel!" he shouted excitedly.

Silence ensued. The cold air around Gray disappeared, and she could hear him mutter incoherent things under his breath like "stupid", "flame-brain", "idiot", and plenty of other not-so-nice things. Meanwhile, there was a stare-down between the fake Salamander and the pink-haired guy. His large, warm grin slowly left his face.

"Who the hell are you?"

The fake Salamander opened his mouth in surprise but recovered. "Maybe you know me as Salamander."

Before he could even finish that sentence, Lucy was astonished to find the pink-haired guy already walking back the way he came with a depressed aura surrounding him. She squinted her eyes to see alongside him was a blue cat. His departure caused quite the stir, and within a blink of an eye, half the crowd of rabid fangirls went stampeding toward him. Hell, one managed to grab him by his scarf, which, of course, began choking him as they dragged him back.

"The hell?!" he rasped out, clawing at his throat.

"You're so rude!"

"Yeah, Salamander-sama is a great mage!"

"Apologize to him!"

"That's enough, ladies," the fake Salamander said. "He didn't really mean it."

All the fangirls squealed. "You're so kind~"

He pulled out a piece of paper and began signing it. "I'll give you my signature. You can show it off to your friends."

"Don't want it," was the pink-haired guy's curt reply.

Once again, the fangirls were upon him. With little effort, they threw him out of the crowd with terrifying strength. The poor guy screamed as he flew through the air and landed, skidding across the cobblestones of the street.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Get lost!"

"He was being nice!"

"I appreciate for the enthusiastic welcome," the fake Salamander said. "Sadly, I have some errands to run at port, so please excuse me." He snapped his fingers and purple fire erupted beneath him, which allowed him to fly in the air. "We're having a party on my ship tonight, and you're all invited. Please come!"

The girls swooned as he faded into the distance toward the ports of Hargeon. They dispersed, hearts still in their eyes, as they talked about the party with each other and what they should wear.

"You know how you were really excited to meet the real Salamander, right?" Gray asked.

"Yeah…"

Gray nodded his head to the pink-haired guy. "Well, that's him over there. His real name is Natsu Dragneel. He uses fire dragonslayer magic, hence Salamander."

Lucy raised her brows, skeptical. "You're kidding." Although, as she thought about it, when she felt his magic, it clicked together. Dragonslayer magic was ancient, which explained the old feeling she felt from Natsu's magic. Not many people used it anymore; therefore, it could be a type of lost magic.

"I wish I was."

"What about the blue cat with him?"

"That's Happy."

"Happy?" Lucy echoed. "Interesting name."

Together, they walked up to Natsu, who was sitting on the ground with a deep frown on his face as he glared where the fake Salamander went off. His blue cat was standing next to him and stared off in the same direction. Lucy made a closer inspection and couldn't help but think he was cute. He had a nice tan, which complimented his lean, muscular body. She noticed her wore an open vest with no shirt underneath, which showed his sculpted muscles and abs. His rosy hair was quite peculiar, but it just made him cute because it matched his childish and reckless personality as well as his facial features, especially his onyx eyes and bright smile. She just wanted to stretch his cheeks and ruffle his hair.

"Hey, Flame-Brain," Gray greeted.

"Ice Princess?!" he yelled in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Gray!" Happy said, raising his paw.

"Happy," Gray acknowledged with a nod of his head. "The old man told me to come here when you ran off to Hargeon. He wanted me to make sure you didn't destroy anything."

"Tch, I don't need a babysitter."

"Your lucky Erza is on a mission or she would have been in my place."

"S-Shit…" Natsu immediately paled. "You didn't tell her I destroyed seven houses along with the Devon Thief family, did you?"

"Nope, but Gramps got some paperwork recently, and it'll only be some time when she gets back and finds out anyway."

"Oooh," Happy chuckled. "She's so going to kick your ass."

"Shut up!"

Lucy giggled at they quarreled with each other childishly. For some reason, she could tell they would all very good friends, even her magic agreed with her happily. Natsu and Happy stopped as they heard her, and they turned and looked at her very curiously.

"Um, hi," she greeted politely. "I'm Lucy."

A grin slowly spread on Natsu's lips. He got up and dusted the imaginary dirt and dust off his clothes before smiling at her. "Natsu," he said. "How'd you meet droopy eyes?"

"Droopy eyes?"

Gray sighed. "We met on the train here."

"Hey, don't forget me," the cat whined. "I'm Happy! Do you have any fish?"

"Nice to meet you too, Happy, and no, sorry," Lucy apologized.

"Speaking of food," Natsu began. His stomach growled, and he slumped over dramatically. "I'm so hungry!"

**1 1 1**

"So that's why you came to Hargeon…" Natsu said. "Well, here I am!"

"Yes, it was a pleasure to meet you," Lucy said happily.

"And you want to join Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked with his mouth full.

"Erm, that would be nice," Lucy said. "But I don't think–"

"You'd fit right in! Wouldn't she, Happy?"

"Aye!"

"You really shouldn't have offered him anything," Gray remarked to Lucy.

"I kind of regret it now," she replied. "I didn't think he would eat that much…"

Gray could only stare, disgusted, as his guildmate shoved everything down his throat, disregarding manners and such. He ate so fast that bits of food went flying here and there. He almost felt his patience and control snap when juice splattered onto his face, but his eyebrow twitched out of annoyance instead.

"Gray?" Lucy asked.

"Hm?"

"What are we going to do about that fake Salamander guy?" she asked tentatively. Her brown eyes were filled with the utmost concern. He looked down at the plate of food she had gotten for herself to see she hadn't touched anything. He assumed it was because she was worrying and stressing over the fact that some poser was abusing magic and manipulating weak-minded girls.

Before he could say anything, Natsu spoke up.

"Oh yeah, who was that weird guy?"

Lucy looked at him surprised. "You don't know? He was posing as you!"

"To be more specific, his is Bora the Prominence," Gray informed. "I recognized him because he used to be part of the Titan Nose guild, but he was later kicked out because he assisted in a thievery with his magic."

"Say what?!" Natsu yelled.

"Natsu, you idiot," Gray sighed. "He used the name Salamander, which you thought was Igneel, but in reality, he was just pretending to be you. Think about it: why would a dragon show up in the middle of town? If you would have thought about that sooner, you would have figured out the guy was using your name."

Natsu stayed silent for a while.

"That poser was dirtying your name, Natsu," Happy stated. "You should slap him with a fish."

Lucy sweatdropped at that.

"No, not just me," Natsu said angrily. "He was dirtying Fairy Tail's name as well."

"So, what will you guys do?" Lucy asked.

"I was thinking to pay a visit to his ship at the harbor," Gray said simply, but he was implying more the just a "visit" obviously.

"And…confront him?"

Gray scanned Lucy's face to see she didn't seem to like the idea of fighting. He raised his brows. "Lucy, I'm going to have to fight him, you know. It's my job as a mage of Fairy Tail to stop these kinds of guys."

"Hey!" Natsu interjected. "I'm dealing with this guy!"

Gray glared. "Hell no. I'm not risking the destruction of Hargeon because of your reckless behavior."

"You can't tell me what do to! And don't even pull the S-class card this time!"

"Fine, I'll just let Erza know you didn't listen."

That immediately shut the pink-haired mage up.

"It's not that, Gray," Lucy finally said. "I know you have to fight and everything, but I'm just worried that you'll get hurt…and that I won't be much help either."

Gray widened his eyes a fraction in surprise at her genuine concern. He really didn't know what to say about that. First thing was that he was impressed she wanted to help them any way she possibly could while anyone else would have walked away from something so dangerous. Secondly, she was concerned. He couldn't help but feel almost slightly offended that she didn't trust their abilities as mages, but the feeling disappeared when she continued.

"I suppose it's silly," she went on. "You know, you being an S-class mage of Fairy Tail and all, but I still can't help but worry and want to help anyway." She smiled weakly. "Is that strange?"

"You are definitely a Fairy!" Happy stated. "Right, guys?"

A smirk graced Gray's lips. "Without a doubt."

Natsu laughed. "I agree, but seriously, have more faith in our abilities. We can kick his ass no problem."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Ash-for-Brains," Gray said. "And there is no _we, _Natsu!"

"Oh, come on!" he whined. "I bet Lucy wants to see my magic in action. I mean, you did tell me, she came to see Salamander, right?"

Gray considered this. Natsu was right. He did promise Lucy that, but he didn't remember promising anything to that extent. He glanced at Lucy to see she looked a little bit excited yet nervous about it all. He sighed in resignation.

"Fine."

"Woohoo!" Natsu and Happy cheered together. They proceeded to give a victory dance on the clattered table.

"I'm regretting this already…" Gray said.

Lucy laughed.

**1 1 1**

"Well, here we are," Gray announced.

"It makes me sick just by looking at it," Natsu croaked, holding a hand over his mouth.

The three of them stood on the dock where Bora's ship was stationed. Lucy couldn't help but gape at the sheer size of it, and it made her wonder what Bora had in his ship, but at the same time, she didn't want to. She had a bad feeling about all of it; she could clearly feel Bora's magic inside. It rolled off in waves, and she couldn't help but clench her jaw and scrunch up her face.

"Lucy, you okay?" Gray asked.

She let out a breath that she had been holding. "Yes, sorry. It's just the nature of his magic nauseates me."

"Nature of his magic?" Happy echoed.

Gray looked at her curiously. "You can sense magic very well," he stated more than asked, probably remembering how she mentioned how revolting Bora's magic was.

"Yes," she said. "Although, maybe a bit more sensitive than the normal mage, thanks to my magic. It specifically reads people's magic and tells me all I need to know."

"So you can pinpoint his location then?" Gray inquired.

Without a moment's hesitation, Lucy pointed to the general area of where Bora was. "There," she said. "Below the deck, in the captain's quarters, I would guess."

"All right!" Natsu cheered.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"Lead the way," Gray said.

"Right," Lucy said with a nod.

Once again, she looked at the towering ship. She swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. She could do this; she just had to focus on her task. The blonde took the first steps on the ramp to the ship and firmly made her way up without looking back. She didn't want to show weakness to the Fairy Tail wizards. She wanted to show that she was qualified. She made it to the top and quietly hopped onto the deck and let out the deep breath that she had been holding.

Gray, Natsu, and Happy were not too far behind her.

She paid them no heed and followed her senses with ease, yet she couldn't help but feel nervous. She heard tiny paws pad against the floor beside her. She looked down to see Happy walking next to her. He looked at her and flashed her a grin, almost as if he sensed her discomfort. She couldn't help but grin back and gave him a grateful nod.

It was unnaturally quiet as they went down below the deck and walked through many halls, taking several turns here and there. She stopped walking when she felt Natsu's magic start flaring restlessly. He was ready to take action; he was ready to explode. She was about to call him out on it when she felt Bora's magical presence go lower and lower in the ship.

"Why'd you stop walking, Lucy?" Happy asked.

"He's…gone down to a lower level, right below us. I wonder what he must be doing…"

"Shit," Natsu suddenly swore, scrunching up his nose.

"You smell something?" Gray asked.

"Burning flesh." The pink-haired mage raised a fist.

"Natsu, wait!" Happy said.

Before the dragonslayer could be stopped, Natsu blew out the floor underneath them, and they went spiraling down to the lower levels. She screamed, waiting for impact, but she something wrap around her waist. She looked down to see a blue tail then looked up to see Happy himself with sprouted wings.

"Thanks, Happy!" she said, as the cat flew down and gently set her down.

"No problem, Lucy! Although, you're a bit heavy, so you should reward me with some fish later, " he teased.

Lucy chuckled and shook her head. "Silly cat."

She looked ahead and gasped when she saw Bora about to brand another innocent girl on the back. Luckily, he stopped dead short as the noise of the fall fully registered into his mind. Her eyes widened when she took notice of how many branded girls there were on this ship. It was a slave trade! Bora was collecting girls for a slave trade!

Before she could even react, Natsu came down with a solid kick to Bora's face while Gray gracefully landed in front of her, causing the enclosing men of Bora, that she sadly hadn't taken notice of, to back of with startled jumps. Lucy watched in amazement as that simple kick had the man flying back several meters. Natsu's flames exploding from his body; he was a raging fire, literally.

"You messed with the wrong people, you bastards!"

"Shit, Bora, he's got the scaly-looking scarf, the pink hair, and the blue cat…" one of Bora's men said, fear in his voice. "I think he may be the real Salamander!"

"Don't call me that!" Bora said as he got up with some effort and held his already bruising cheek. He held out his hand and a filthy red magic circle appeared and purple fire shot out, but Natsu only ate it and retaliated with something far stronger and deadlier than poor Bora could imagine.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

And the whole left side of the ship was blown to bits. Lucy concluded that Dragonslayer magic was amazing yet so ridiculously destructive.

"Is he crazy?!" Lucy screamed. "We don't want the ship to sink!"

"Maybe, but he's mostly an idiot," Gray stated, and Lucy couldn't agree more.

The men surrounding her and Gray tried closing in once again, but in the blink of an eye, every single man working for Bora was frozen.

"That was amazing!" Lucy commented in awe. "Did that really just happen…?" she mumbled under her breath.

Gray only shrugged but had a small smirk on his face.

"Shouldn't we stop him?" Lucy finally asked, a bit worried about the damage Natsu was causing. The ship was starting to burn and the slaves were panicking and hell, even jumping off the ship from the large whole Natsu created.

"Nah, a ship's better than a city," Gray replied matter-of-factly.

"Th-This is normal?" Her voice went to a high octave of disbelief.

"Sadly," was Gray's only response, yet his voice held a certain amusement to it.

"Gray!" Happy called, flying over to them.

"Hm?"

"The army's on the way here!"

"The army?!" Lucy echoed in horror

"Well, that's our cue to leave," Gray said coolly.

Lucy gaped. "That's so unprofessional."

Gray laughed. "We're hardly professionals when it comes to rules."

And with that, they fled from the burning ship, but not without Gray freezing Natsu and Bora with no problem despite the heat of their flames. They left the filthy man on the ship for the army to find, as with the rest of his men. For Happy, well, Lucy felt bad for the cat because Gray assigned him the job of carrying a frozen Natsu.

"Gray, you think Happy's going to be okay with all the weight? Maybe you should unfreeze Natsu?" Lucy suggested.

Gray didn't even bother to turn around and continued walking. "The cat will survive; it'll make him stronger. Besides, it's what Natsu gets for getting the army's attention."

"You're… so…cruel," Happy gasped out as he hauled the frozen Natsu with his tail, his wings rapidly fluttering.

Lucy remained silent for a few moments, but she had one question in her head that desired to be answered.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, but…where are we going?" she asked.

Gray looked at her over his shoulder. "You said you wanted to go to Fairy Tail, right?"

A bright smile lit her face. "Right."

He flashed her his small, crooked smile. "Then let's go."

Lucy then realized her journey with Fairy Tail already began when she met Gray on the train. She silently thanked whatever god out there for letting them meet because this feeling of freedom, adventure, and friendship was exactly what she was looking for.

* * *

_**And there you have it! Chapter 1! Hope you like it and let me know what you think!**_


	3. 2 2 2

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of it's characters. The plot is the only thing that belongs to me.**_

_**Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :D**_

* * *

**The Ice Devil's Angel**

**Chapter Two**

* * *

**2 2 2**

To say that Lucy was impressed was an understatement.

"So, what do you think?" Gray asked.

The Fairy Tail guild towered three stories above her. She could tell the building was not new, that it had been standing for some time, but it felt homey nonetheless. Oh, how could she describe the feeling? She felt like she…belonged, and it made her feel important. The amazing amount of magic inside gave her head for a spin, but it only ensured that she made the right decision to come along with Gray, Natsu, and Happy. It was all filled with wonderful forms of varied magic, but they all had one similar aspect despite being so different. It was family. Their magic – they used it to protect each other, and it left a beautiful warm feeling throughout her being.

"I already feel at home," Lucy responded. "If that makes any sense…"

"No, I know what you mean," Gray said.

Lucy looked at the S-class mage from her peripheral vision when he said that. It made her wonder where he came from, where everyone from the guild came from. She could feel they were all connected. She couldn't quite understand how, but it made her feel like she could trust these people with her life.

"Gray," Happy wheezed. "Can I get fish now?"

Lucy and Gray turned around to see Happy barely being able to haul the frozen Natsu through the gates of Fairy Tail.

"Tell Mira the tabs on me."

Happy unwrapped his tail with a relieved sigh. "You're the best."

Lucy and Gray watched as the blue cat wearily flew through an open window into the guild. They could hear the collective cheers of a welcome back and a lot of talking ensued.

"Will Natsu be okay?"

"The idiot will be more than okay."

"Shouldn't you unfreeze him?"

"Can't," Gray said simply. "My magic is to create ice, not get rid of it."

"But..."

"Natsu's flames are hot enough. See?" Gray pointed.

Lucy gasped when she saw Natsu's body heat was enough to start melting the ice a little before his flaming came spewing out with such raw emotion. It was like the power of his feeling gauged how hot his flames could be. And he was pretty mad from what Lucy could tell.

"GRAY, YOU ICE PRICK!" Natsu roared, his body lighting on fire.

Lucy watched, amazed, when Gray casually ducked as Natsu charged at him. She winced when the poor dragonslayer crashed into the large, oak wooden doors. Luckily, they didn't break, but what happened next was not pretty. With the force Natsu had, he burst them open and sailed into the guild, crashing into a table full of people. Lucy ran into the guild, worried that he would be hurt but despite the ugly sound of dishes shattering and wood cracking, Natsu got up as if nothing happened, as if it didn't even _hurt. _Instead, it just happened to anger him more. He was about to charge at Gray again when a guildmate called out to him.

"Hey, Natsu, I heard you went all the way out to Hargeon. You just had go and start some trou–" The poor guy couldn't even finish the sentence as Natsu kicked him in the face.

"Natsu!" Lucy called, shocked. "Was that really necessary?"

Natsu ignored her. "You lied about that Salamander!" he accused, forgetting about his anger at Gray for the moment. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

The guy lifted himself off the ground, his eyes flaming. "Don't get mad at me! I'm not the one to blame here! I just passed along a rumor I heard!"

"It was just a rumor?!" Natsu repeated in disbelief.

"You want to fight?!"

"Let's go!"

As if it was some sort of signal, the whole guildhall ceased there chattering and erupted into utter chaos. Fists, food, tables, chairs, and occasionally people went flying and Lucy had to duck several times in order to avoid getting hit. Despite the entire ruckus, a huge smile was on her face. She couldn't believe that she was actually in Fairy Tail. She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt the presence of Gray's cold, calming magic nearing her. She turned around to see Gray swiftly dodge a chair and a kick to the face.

"You should hide behind the bar if you want to avoid getting hit," Gray advised from behind. "Although, I can't promise being unscathed."

"Are they always like this?" Lucy couldn't help but ask as she made her way to the bar. "There's not one sane person here!"

"Yeah, you'll get used to it," Gray said. He paused, looking at her with an arched brow and crooked smile. "I'm offended; I think I'm saner than the rest."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lucy apologized and bowed. "I didn't mean to offend you."

Gray chuckled. "I'm teasing you, Lucy."

Lucy felt her cheeks burn and her eyes shyly turned away from the ice mage. "Oh," was all she could say. She bit her lip. What else could she say? She had never experienced conversations like this before. What was it? Playful banter or something of the sort? She was used discussing gossip with other heiresses and older ladies and keeping quiet with "men's business talk", so she didn't have the faintest idea of how to correctly respond, hence the embarrassment and blushing. She peeked back up at him and was surprised to see he was smirking down at her.

"W-What's with that face?!"

"Nothing," he dismissed smugly. "Just that I should tease you more often."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Gray suddenly pulled her to the side. She didn't question anything when a table sailed by right where they had been standing. They could only watch as the table crashed into several unsuspecting people.

"Thanks," Lucy said sincerely, wincing when the table smashed into them.

Before Gray could respond, Natsu appeared with a flaming fist to his face.

"Let's finished what we started, ice princess!"

"I guess I'll entertain you for a bit."

Just like that, the two were fighting hand-to-hand. What was interesting was it seemed that Natsu was putting in all his effort, and Gray, well, he wasn't breaking a sweat. He may be saner than the rest, but when it came to skill with magic and fighting abilities, Gray was a god or something – he really lived up to his S-class status. With so much as a simple push to Natsu's chest, the poor dragonslayer went flying to the other end of the guildhall.

Lucy wordlessly hid behind the bar counter and decided just to stay put. However, curiosity got the better of her, so she couldn't help but peek over the top of the counter, and boy, she prayed the guild had enough money to pay for repairs. There were so many broken tables, chairs, shattered glass, indentations and cracks in the walls…

The blonde's ears perked up when she heard a woman sigh. Lucy looked to her left to see a girl about her age or maybe older with dark brown hair and purple eyes glare at the chaos in annoyance. What was peculiar was she was holding a large barrel of beer in her lap. She wore a revealing bikini top along with pants and heels.

"This is why I don't date any guys from this guild," she muttered under her breath. "They have no class."

Lucy gaped when the said woman downed an alcoholic beverage from the large barrel itself. It was just too ironic.

"Come here and fight me seriously, Gray!" Natsu yelled from across the guildhall. He pushed and shoved people out of his way to get to his main target.

"When you can fight me with all you got, we can," Gray replied coolly.

"Why you–"

Lucy gasped when a large, bulking guy appeared in dark blue attire. His hair was white and spiked up, and there was a scar across his right eye. Lucy could hear each of his footsteps as he walked up to Natsu and Gray with his arms crossed. To put it simply: the guy was crazy intimidating and scary.

"It's about time for dinner, and you're all whining like a bunch of babies!" He sneered. "Can't a guy get any quiet around hear and enjoy his meal like a man?"

"Stay out of it, Elfman!" Natsu yelled.

In scary synchronization, Gray and Natsu pulled back their fists, one laced with fire and the other with ice, and punched the guy square in the stomach, and he went flying with a scream across the guildhall.

"That easily…?" Lucy whispered to herself in awe. The guy looked like he would have given Natsu and Gray trouble. But to be done with one blow… Either he was weak or Natsu and Gray were just insanely strong. She went with the latter because she knew that no one in Fairy Tail was weak, considering it was practically the number one guild in Fiore, Phantom Lord coming to a close second.

"Geez, it's so noisy around here," a new voice said.

Lucy turned her head to the right to see none other than the infamous womanizer of Fairy Tail, Loke, with two women on his lap. True to _Sorcerer Weekly's _word, Loke was a good-looking guy. He had spiky ginger hair, almost delicate facial features, and he had a lean, muscular build like the rest of the male population in Fairy Tail. She noted the azure-tinted glasses and green coat that stood out and completed his pretty boy look. He probably felt her gaze and caught her curious stare. He winked at her and said something to the girls on his lap without taking his eyes off her. The blonde watched in slight disgust as the women just fawned and drooled over every word he said, and she stifled a laugh when a flying glass cup hit Loke right in the forehead, causing the guy to fall backwards of the bench. The girls gave a melodramatic gasp in response.

"Are you all right?" One asked in an annoyingly high voice.

"Yeah, I'm good… I'm going to go fight," Loke said, brushing himself off. "Only to protect you two," he added with a flashy smile and a wink.

"Good luck, Loke!" the two girls chimed.

"Yup, he lost my respect," Lucy confirmed with a nod. Her brows suddenly furrowed when she felt his magic. Her eyes widened when it felt familiar. It felt like all those times when her mother called out her spirits. It was a bright, warm feeling of utter loyalty to serve; it also felt old, older than Natsu's – it was ancient, like it had been in the world since the beginning of time. She was confused as to why it was diminishing gradually, sapping away at Loke's life force. Lucy watched as Loke joined the brawl. Her eyes narrowed, and that was when she saw –the precise movements and bursts of speed, his hand-to-hand combat skills – it must have taken _years _of experience. _Big_ emphasis on years.

"But that's not possible…" Lucy murmured shakily under her breath.

She wanted to do something, she really did, but…it was not in her place to mention this since it didn't seem like anyone knew except for himself. Lucy knew. She knew that Loke knew he was dying. She saw it in his eyes when he looked at her. He was in pain, and what was scary was that he just seemed to…accept it.

"Hello!" another new voice said, disrupting Lucy out of her thoughts. It was sweet and angelic. "Are you new here?"

Lucy turned around, surprised, and saw none other than the famous Mirajane, known for her _Sorcerer Weekly_ photo spreads in bikinis, in a beautiful maroon dress with a light pink bow at her chest. She held a serving tray with glasses of several drinks. Her eyes were a crystal blue, and her hair was as white as snow. It was let down, but her bangs were put up into a cute ponytail.

"You're, you're…" Lucy trailed off, gaping.

She giggled. "Just call me Mira."

"Uh…" Lucy said, shocked to why she wasn't reacting to the ruckus. "Shouldn't we…stop them?"

Mira shook her head. "It's always like this. Besides–" Elfman crashed into her – "isn't it a lot of fun?" She fell limp as Elfman's weight starting crushing her.

Lucy ran and knelt beside the fallen bartender. The blonde was barely able to push Elfman off of her. "Oh my god, are you okay?! Mira? Mira?!"

Before anything else happened, Natsu flew into her. Lucy screeched as she flew in the air with him. The force was so strong they flew a couple meters before landing roughly on the ground. She was still recovering on the ground when Natsu got up and ran after Gray, who punched him in the face. Lucy could only cast him a withering glance with a scowl on her face as he left her there on the ground and disappeared in the rowdy crowd. She was so disorientated from the hit she didn't even notice that she was suddenly lifted into someone's arms bridal-style.

"Tch, Natsu," the voice said. "That's no way to treat a lady."

Lucy froze and looked up, hoping in was Gray, but indeed it was not. Her face deadpanned when she saw that it was none other than Fairy Tail's resident womanizer, Loke. She unintentionally drowned him out. She caught the word "insensitive" and "woman's needs" and that's pretty much it before Loke was punched in the face by none other than Elfman, who recovered from his crash into Mira.

"Men speak with their fists, Loke!" Elfman roared.

Lucy went flying out of Loke's arms as Elfman punched him in the chest.

"I told you to but out!" Natsu yelled, kicked Elfman back.

Lucy screamed as she sailed through the air. Her stomach rose to her throat as she fell closer and closer to the hardwood floor. She closed her eyes, waiting for a hard impact, but instead, she felt nothing. She opened her eyes in surprise to see that Gray had caught her. He had a straight face, but he looked almost a bit sheepish. Lucy bit her lip, the word cute floating through her mind. She blinked to get out her thoughts.

"Thanks," she breathed.

Gray flicked his eyes down to her. "Least I could do." He set her down and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry."

Lucy arched a brow. "For what?"

"I sent him flying into you."

Lucy didn't even pay attention to that. Instead, she felt her mouth drop into a small "o" in shock. She had witnessed him "gently" push Natsu earlier to see him fly across the whole building, but it was still unbelievable. She wasn't used to such immense power.

"Did you punch him or something?" she assumed. "Natsu looked pretty mad."

"Nah," Gray shook his head. "I flicked him on the forehead."

Lucy hid her mouth behind her hands, but her eyes widened significantly. It amazed her how casual he said it, like it was normal? He had such incredible strength. She then knew that all those muscles he had weren't just for show. Her brown eyes inadvertently scanned his body, and with closer inspection, she could see just how lean and built he was.

"_Flicked?_" Lucy echoed. "Just how strong are you?"

Gray only smirked at her. It was almost dark in a way, but it just made him look more attractive than ever. His eyes lit up with something, but she couldn't tell what it was.

Lucy felt her cheeks heat up, and she immediately looked away. She thanked the lord that Cana started having a fit or else she wouldn't have stood the intense way he staring at her any longer. It felt like she was naked, as if he was gazing into the depths of her soul.

"Ugh, it's so loud," Cana groaned. "So much for having a drink to relax…" She sighed as she pulled out one of her magic cards and swiveled around to face the guild in her barstool. "That's enough you guys! I suggest that you knock it off!" A turquoise magic circle illuminated and zoomed out of the card.

Elfman growled as a large, purple magic circle illuminated from his hand then scaled down his arm, transforming it into a huge arm made not of human flesh, but stone.

"You guys can be so annoying," Loke said. He touched one of the rings on his fingers and a green magic circle appeared.

"Bring it on!" Natsu yelled, his fists lighting on fire.

"Idiots," she heard Gray sigh. It wasn't out of pure annoyance. Yes, there was a hint of it, but there was some affection behind there as well. Lucy glanced at Gray to see he had an amuse crooked smile on his face. That was probably the closest thing she had seen to a real smile. She couldn't help but smile as well. Her magic sensed a certain warmth from him, and it was this same warmth that kept that lurking darkness at bay. Lucy looked back at the guild and at everyone. She understood. A feeling of belonging and of true family and camaraderie filled this place. She truly wanted to become a part of it, too.

_Crash!_

Lucy elicited a small gasp of terror when she saw a _gigantic _foot appear in the middle of the guildhall. Gulping, she looked up from the foot to the leg then the torso to the shoulders and finally, the terrifying horned head.

"Cut it out, you brats!" the monster bellowed.

Everyone froze in the middle of his or her fight, and an eerie silence fell upon the guild.

Lucy gaped up at the huge entity, feeling fear creep into her heart. "He's huge!" she whispered to herself, afraid that if she yelled she'd be killed on the spot.

"I'm sorry, Master," Mira apologized. She was practically unscathed, with the exception of the ugly bruise she had on her forehead. "I didn't know you were still here."

Lucy paled. This monster was the master of Fairy Tail? To her utter horror, Natsu began laughing boisterously.

"Haha! You all got scared!" he proclaimed in glee, a giant, victorious smile upon his face. "Seems like I won this round you lose–" Natsu was cut off when the foot of the giant squished him without hesitation, silencing him. Lucy squeaked at the sight.

The giant, noticing that everyone settled down, let out a roar, and Lucy never felt more concerned about her life at the moment. She felt herself sweating profusely while the giant yelled, confused as to why the rest of the guild wasn't as scared as her. But then she noticed that the giant was _deflating_. This continued until the silhouette of the giant was less than half her size. When it finished shrinking, standing in front of her was none other than Master Makarov of Fairy Tail himself. He wore a white shirt with the Fairy Tail insignia, an orange over short with matching pants, and a funny looking, two-horned hat, which was also orange, but striped with blue. He also held a neat looking staff that made him look more serious, but instead of containing the guild sign at the head, it was a smiley face. The old man gave her a toothy grin.

"You must be a new recruit," he said. "Nice to meet you!"

Lucy blinked to register if what she just saw really happened but recomposed herself with a shake of her head. "You too!" she finally said with a smile. It was a wary smile, but only because she couldn't believe the old man in front of her was the guild master and could possibly be _that _powerful.

Master Makarov jumped high into the air, spinning in the process. Unfortunately, the jump wasn't as smooth as he hoped it would be for he crashed into the railing of the second floor. Righting himself up, he stood atop as if nothing happened. He cleared his throat. There were a few murmurs across the guild, but it all settled when Master Makarov began speaking, or rather…shouting.

"YOU'VE GONE AND DONE IT AGAIN, YOU BRATS!" he yelled angrily. Lucy barely noticed when Natsu got back up to stand beside her, only acknowledging his presence when she accidentally stepped on his foot from shifting side to side nervously.

"LOOK AT ALL THE DOCUMENTS I'VE GOTTEN FROM THE COUNCIL!" Master Makarov continued irately as he waved a large pile of paperwork at the guild, and the stellar mage wondered how it got there. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MINDS?! ALL YOU KIDS ARE GOOD FOR IS GETTNG THE HIGHER UPS MAD AT ME!"

The entire guild looked down, ashamed for causing the master so much trouble. There were a few exceptions like Natsu, who just rolled his eyes, Gray, who just stoically listened, Cana, who kept on drinking, and Mira, who just smiled. It seemed the ones who have been in Fairy Tail longer than the rest were at ease. Despite this, Lucy couldn't help but be a little worried for all of them because it seemed he would punish all of them.

"However," Master Makarov began in a softer tone, surprising not only Lucy but also most of the guild.

Everyone's ears perked up, and they looked at him in confusion to see a smile poking out from underneath his moustache.

The paper in his hands suddenly lit on fire. "Forget the council. He threw the burning papers into the air. Natsu jumped up to catch them in his mouth like a dog and then returned to Lucy's side. She could hear him munching on the flames – if that was even possible – and looked at the master with an odd expression.

"Eh?" was the only thing that tumbled out of her mouth in regard to the guild master's statement. Lucy couldn't help but think he should be more concerned. That pile of papers was _huge_.

"Now listen up! The power that surpasses reason still comes from reason. Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power. It is a talent that only works when the flow of energy that is inside of us and the flow of energy in the natural world are in perfect synchronization. To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus; it should take over your being and come pouring out of your soul. If the only thing we do is worry about following rules, then our magic will never progress. Don't let those from the magic council scare you." Master Makarov paused in his speech, allowing a wide grin to spread across his face. "Follow the path you believe in because that's what make the Fairy Tail guild number one!"

The entire guild cheered, and Lucy couldn't but laugh with them. The speech was inspiring, even if it was suggesting something akin to treason. The master was right – about everything he said. She took in the atmosphere of camaraderie and happiness as she looked at everyone. It was a beautiful sight.

Mira turned to her with a smile. "So, what do you think?"

"It's amazing," Lucy breathed. "I just can't believe I'm actually here."

Mira giggled. "Let's get you stamped and make you an official guild member of Fairy Tail, so you'll know that you're not dreaming. How does pink sound?"

"Sounds good to me!"

**2 2 2 **

Gray made his way over to the request board on the lower floor after the nice speech from Gramps. His eyes slowly scanned over each and every request to try and find the right one. He was S-class, yes, but he tried not to take on several S-class jobs back to back because they were life threatening, and he was pretty much set for the next few months with the juicy reward he just got. Besides, he just finished one right before he met Lucy, and he wanted to also look for a job that–

"Gray!"

He turned around to see Lucy practically skip up to him with bright eyes. She excitedly showed the back of her right hand with a dazzling smile. The brightness of her smile never ceased to amaze him.

"It's official," she said happily. "I'm a member!"

Gray forced his eyes to stray from her smile to her hand, and indeed, as she said, she was now an official member of Fairy Tail. The guild insignia was pink and neatly stamped on the back of her right hand. The first thought that came to his mind was that the color suited her. It wasn't a bright, hot pink like the gloxinia flower behind her ear. Instead it was a soft, light pink.

He gave her his usual crooked smile. "Well, I officially welcome you as a fellow member of the guild."

Lucy giggled. "Thanks, I'm excited to be working with everyone!" She then peered around him curiously. "What were you looking at?"

Gray turned back around, resuming his search for the perfect job. "I was looking for a job that the both of us could do."

"The both of us?" she echoed in surprise.

He raised a brow at her. "Something wrong?"

"No, it's just that…" she paused. "Wouldn't I just drag you down?"

Gray blinked. It was his turn to be surprised. "No, not at all. What made you think that?"

"Well, you are S-class, you know, and I'm just a newbie, so…"

Oh, that. Of course, but…

"That doesn't mean I can't help you settle into the daily grind," he explained. "Besides, I would prefer you went with me, so I can guarantee your safety on your first job."

It was weird, but he felt a little bit protective towards the blonde. More interesting than that was this morning, when he first met her on the train, his magic was at unease and was slightly repelled by the stark contrast. But now… His brow furrowed when his magic within him shifted a little. It was almost…like it changed its mind. For whatever reason, Gray couldn't be quite sure why that was. He would shrug it off for now.

"Ah, um, er…" Lucy was at a loss for words, a blush beginning to stain her cheeks.

Gray arched a brow, but then he went over what he just said in his mind. He wanted to smirk for making her shy and flustered, but at the same time, he wanted to face-palm for making her feel uncomfortable. He did have to admit that a flustered Lucy was…endearing in a way.

"Thank you…for taking care of me," she eventually said with a shy little smile. "I'll try not to do anything reckless on the job." She bowed her head politely.

Gray raised both his brows in amusement. "No need to be so formal."

She stood back up with a hand behind her head. "Sorry, habit."

_Habit?_ Gray repeated in his head. He wondered just what kind of background she came from. He turned back to the board, and that's when he saw the perfect job. He plucked it off the request bird and made his way to Mira at the bar with Lucy trailing behind.

"Did you find a suitable one?" she asked.

"Yes, actually, it pays two hundred thousand jewels," he said.

"Wow, what is it exactly?"

"Finding a book and destroying it."

"Just for a book?" Lucy asked, puzzled. "Seems like there's more going on than there appears. That's seems a bit too high for just destroying a book…"

"Exactly," Gray said, somewhat impressed. "You're pretty quick." He placed the request sheet on the counter of the bar in front of Mira. "We'll take this one."

Mira looked up from cleaning glasses in surprise. She looked up and glanced at Gray, repeating, "We'll?"

Gray shifted to the side and saw Mira's crystal blue eyes widen in realization as she saw Lucy. "Oh? I see… I'll just write that down." She eyed him slyly, and he couldn't help but cringe at that look he had seen all too many times. She wanted details. He could understand why because he was more of a solo mage unless he was asked specifically to accompany someone on a job or by Gramps himself to go with someone.

"All right, you're both set to go!" Mira said cheerfully.

"Great!" Lucy said excitedly, unaware of Mira's peculiar behavior.

"We'll head out tomorrow at noon," he said, taking the request sheet. "See you at the guild."

He could feel Mira's glare as he exited the doors of the guild. He let out a sigh of relief once he stepped outside the guild into the fresh night air of Magnolia. He knew that his escape from the She-Devil's nosy, pressing questions was only temporary.

"Um, Mira?" Lucy asked worriedly. "Are you all right?"

Once Gray left the guild, the white haired bar waitress had a smile frozen onto her face, but the thing was it was sickly sweet, as if promising deadly things to happen. Lucy flinched when Mira snapped her sharp gaze to her, but she immediately softened into her normal nature.

"Sorry, about that Lucy," she apologized. "It's just I had some questions…about the S-class job Gray just recently came back from, but he up and went before I could ask anything." Her crystal blue eyes inspected her carefully and a…strange smile crossed Mira's face, almost looking at her like she was prey.

"Mira?"

"I didn't know that Gray would come back with a girl? Are you someone he was secretly seeing?" she wondered. "Oh, that's typical Gray. Trying to keep things to himself. So cute~" she squealed, hands on her cheeks.

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that!" Lucy interjected. "We just met on the train to Hargeon, that's all."

"Oh," Mira said, hiding her disappointment quite well. "Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. It's just that I assumed there was something because he usually does solo jobs. Mostly S-class."

"Really?" Lucy said. "By himself?"

"Yes, he's quite strong," Mira said with a nod. "It only makes sense. He knows some pretty powerful magic."

"I knew he was strong, but I didn't know he was that strong," Lucy said in surprise.

"Quite, he was the youngest mage to ever become S-class. I think he was about twelve," Mira pursed her lips and counted her fingers. "Then it was Erza who was fifteen. Me at sixteen. Then Laxus at seventeen."

"Wow! Twelve?" Lucy could only repeat, dumbstruck.

"Twelve," Mira said with a nod.

"And you…"

Mira cast her eyes down. "Yes, I _was _S-class."

Lucy didn't press on the matter. She could feel it if she concentrated really hard. She could feel the large amount of magic suppressed in Mira's body by some emotional barrier. Something happened. That was all Lucy could conclude. What was interesting was how suppressed Mira's magic was because she couldn't even tell in the first place that she had any magic at all. The emotional barrier of trauma, grief, and sorrow were strong, and Lucy couldn't imagine how it must have been in the beginning. Now that she thought about it, Lucy closed her eyes and focused on the guild as a whole, and she could sense that Mira was not the only case of personal loss and grief. Everyone had his or her own story. The blonde opened her eyes as she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a small, worried voice.

"How come my dad hasn't come back yet?"

Lucy turned head and saw a little boy with dark, purple hair that it looked almost black if it weren't for the lighting. He had a dark green shirt with a white "S" smack dab in the middle, khaki shorts, and sandals.

"You're starting to work on my nerves, Romeo," Master Makarov addressed with a sigh and closed his eyes. "You're a wizard's son; have faith in your father and wait patiently for him!"

"But, sir, he told me he'd be back in three days, and he's been gone for over a week now!" Romeo exclaimed.

Master Makarov hummed. "If I remember, he took a job at Mt. Hakobe…"

"That's right! And it's not that far from here, so why won't somebody go look for him?!"

"Listen kid!" Master Makarov said in annoyance. "You're father's a wizard, and like every other wizard in this guild, he can take care of himself! Now go home, have some milk and cookies, and _wait_!"

Romeo clenched his fist and smacked Master Makarov in the face. "Jerk!" He ran to the exit of the guild with tears in his eyes. "I hate you all!"

Lucy felt her usual smile drop into a grim line. "Is he going to be all right?"

"He'll be just fine," Mira reassured.

"…But," Lucy paused, not knowing what to say.

Mira continued wiping glasses. "I know it seems like the Master doesn't care, but he really is worried."

Before Lucy could reply, there was a smashing sound along with the splinter of wood. Everyone at the bar whirled around and looked to see that Natsu had punched the request board. It seemed that he held back his true anger because there was nothing but a mark the size of his fist imbedded into the thick wood. Lucy watched in silence as Natsu made his way out the guild into the night, with Happy following along, and disappeared into the darkness.

The first thing that occurred to Lucy's mind was why he had gotten so upset. She turned back around and tapped her fingers rhythmically against the counter of the bar as she thought about. His magic was restless and wanted to help. She hypothesized that maybe Natsu saw himself in Romeo for one reason or another. Lucy drowned into her thoughts and could hear the distant chatter of Master Makarov and Nab, the large man that stood by the request board, about Natsu going up to Mt. Hakobe, but she paid it no heed. She felt like she should help in someway, but at the same time, she felt it wasn't in her place to meddle in people's personal business.

"You okay there, Lucy?" Mira asked.

"I'm all right. I was just thinking."

Mira gave a soft smile. "Just because we're members of Fairy Tail, it doesn't mean we don't have our own personal issues. We've all had our fair share of suffering and loss."

Lucy gave her own soft smile in return. "Yes, I sensed it."

"One's happiness is everyone's happiness. One's sadness is everyone's sadness."

Lucy remained silent and let those precious words sink in. A ghost of a smile rested on her lips. Not even her father was like that, and they were true flesh and blood.

"Lucy?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering what exactly made Natsu so upset to storm off like that."

Mira placed the clean glasses back on the shelf. "Many years ago, Natsu's father left and never came back. Well, technically, it wasn't his real father, but the one who raised him. He was actually a dragon. When he was a little boy, a dragon found him wandering the forest and took him in and taught him all about language, culture, and magic. But one day the dragon disappeared and never returned

Lucy eyes widened. "He mentioned the name Igneel…"

"That's right! Natsu lives for the day when he can finally see Igneel again. It's kind of cute, don't you think?"

Both girls giggled. Mira was about to continue her daily duties in the bar, but Lucy had to stop because she had one more question.

"Um, Mira, I was wondering if you know any good places to live around here close to the guild? Something cozy and not too expensive?"

"Fairy Hills would be out of the question then…" Mira then grinned. "I know just the place!"

**2 2 2**

Lucy woke up to a warm breeze from her window accompanied by the sounds of several birds chirping. Her eyes fluttered open and squinted from the bright light. She sluggishly sat up and rubbed her eyes with a yawn escaping her mouth. She then began stretching her limbs side to side. She sighed contently and looked around her new apartment. On her nightstand was a flower vase holding the pink gloxinia flower she received the day before, an alarm clock that read 10:38AM, and a ring of celestial keys her mother had owned.

Her brown eyes rested on the keys for a moment before looking away with a pained smile. She still had to find a suitable owner for them; she had no reason to keep them because she couldn't use them squat. But…she kept them because her father wanted to sell them, and she just couldn't let that happen. The silver and gold keys glistened in the lighting. Lucy smiled as a thought occurred to her. Maybe leaving them in care of the Master would be better. She still had to think about it. The blonde sighed and drifted her eyes from the celestial keys to her surroundings.

Lucy had to hand it to Mira. Her new place was cute, cozy, convenient, and just what she was looking for. All she had to do to get to Fairy Tail was get right through the center of town past the beautiful Kardia Cathedral, and there was Fairy Tail, the only guild in Magnolia, not too far away down the main street near the coast. It was a decent walking distance from her comfy apartment on Strawberry Street that was at seventy thousand jewels a month. It wasn't out of her reach financially: all she had to do was make sure to complete jobs from the guild successfully if she wanted to live there, as the scary landlady had said. The space was nice and the walk-in closet was just a big plus for her. There was the addition of a cute retro-fireplace and stove, but what she loved most was her bedroom.

The blonde headed to her bathroom and stripped to enjoy a nice warm bath in her tub. She practically purred in satisfaction when she sat in the steaming bath. The only difference between her and a cat right then was that she had no fur and liked water. She scrubbed herself and her hair and after a good fifteen minutes she was out patting her blonde tresses dry with a towel wrapped around her body. She walked into her closet.

"Now, let's see," Lucy hummed. "Something more suitable for a mission…"

She picked out a black tank top, some dark jean-ripped shorts, a white long-sleeved, V-neck shirt that went over the tank to her midriff, and some neat looking black combat boots that went to her knees. She put her hair up in the same style she had yesterday.

"All set to go," Lucy said to herself with a hum.

She glanced at her clock to see it was only 11:23AM. Well, she certainly had time for breakfast, and this called for some nice eggs and bacon. The blonde happily skipped to the fridge and opened it. Her face remained frozen for a few seconds. She blinked a couple of times before she fully registered that there was no food whatsoever.

Lucy face-palmed. That's right! She didn't buy food yesterday. She came straight here, rented the place, organized herself, and slept in because she was so tired.

"Well, this is great," she muttered sarcastically.

So, that's how she found herself at the guild eating Mira's incredible bacon and eggs with a strawberry milkshake. Lucy's plate was spotless when she was done, and she was contently sipping on the remaining contents of her stomach when Gray entered through the guild doors in his trademark get-up looking handsome as ever.

"That's my cue," Lucy said. "Thanks for the breakfast, Mira! You're really good at cooking!"

"Anytime! Be careful!" Mira waved.

Lucy waved back with a big smile.

**2 2 2 **

"Finally, Shirotsume Town," Lucy said, stretching her limbs from the coach ride. "It's so peaceful!" Her eyes sparkled in admiration and excitement.

Gray still couldn't believe the blonde mage before him was the same person yesterday. It wasn't just the clothes, but her attitude. She was determined and ready to do the best she could. He had to admit that he expected her to be a little more intimidated on her first job, but no, she was ready to kick some ass. He was, to say the least, impressed in a way.

They walked through the town, and it wasn't long until the came upon the house…er, mansion of the client. They entered and were greeted by a maid and led into the living room. They sat on the sofa in front of a gentleman and his wife, who stood behind him. There was a slight frown on Gray's face because their clients seemed a little out of place from the mansion. He couldn't place it exactly, but the ice mage took a mental note and shrugged it off for the time being.

"My name's Kaby Melon," the man introduced. "Pleased to meet you."

Gray frowned. He couldn't help but feel their client didn't really "fit" with their home, if that made any sense. They seemed out of place for one reason or another. His eyes scanned the room and landed on a picture frame sitting on the table. It was a picture of a man and woman. He figured it was Kaby and his wife, but he squinted his eyes to see it wasn't them. Seeming to notice his questioning glance, Kaby's wife smiled at him and moved the picture out of the way when a maid came in to set down some tea for them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lucy's eyebrows furrow into a thoughtful expression.

"Well, first things first," Kaby said. "Allow me to tell you about the job. It's pretty straightforward really. Duke Everlue, the man who governs this town, owns a book called _Daybreak_ in his possession. I would like you to get rid of it for me."

"May I ask why, sir?" Lucy asked curiously. "Why pay two hundred thousand jewels for just a book to be burned?"

"The reward has been raised to two million."

Gray's eyes widened a fraction. "Two million?"

"Why'd you raise the reward?" Lucy inquired in shock.

Kaby clenched his fists. "Because it means that much to me. That book must be destroyed no matter the cost."

"Interesting," Gray murmured under his breath. There was definitely a lot more going on than he initially thought. Looking at the their client's rigid and tense posture, he could only conclude it was more personal than anything else. "All right, it's settled. Let's go, Lucy."

"R-Right!"

After a about a ten minute hike up to Everlue's even bigger mansion, Gray and Lucy stood in front of the secure gate of his estate. Gray turned back around to see a great view of Shirotsume below.

"How do you think we'll sneak in without making it too obvious?" Lucy asked.

"I got that covered," Gray replied. "The hard part will be finding the book."

"What's your idea?"

Gray smirked. "I'm pretty nifty will teleportation magic, actually."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Just how much magic do you know?"

"Three," he answered honestly.

He could see she was about to ask, but she shook her head and focused on the task at hand. "Could you get us right inside then?"

"No, I would have to know the place. The best I can do is get us on the roof and then, from there, inside. If I tried getting us directly inside, we'd most likely end up stuck between a wall or something, and that wouldn't be pretty."

Lucy grimaced. "Yes, sounds rather unpleasant."

"Anyway, just hold onto me, and we'll be there."

"Right," she said with a small blush. "Tell me when we're there."

The blonde timidly held onto his arm and shut her eyes, and Gray couldn't help but think it was cute. He shook off the thought and looked at Everlue's residence, more specifically at where he wanted to go, and faster than anyone could blink, they were on the roof. There wasn't much on the roof, but there were windows into an attic or storage room of some sort. He looked into the room, and in an instant, they were inside Everlue's mansion.

"You can open your eyes now," Gray announced, amused.

He watched as she slowly peeked her soft brown eyes open. She let out a small breath of relief, and she let go of his arm and took a step into the room.

Gray took a look himself and concluded that it indeed was a storage room of some sort because there were cobwebs in corners and dust hovering in the air. He scrunched his nose, feeling a tickling sensation, but Lucy beat him to it. She sneezed and dust exploded and jumped around her. Gray wanted to chuckle, but he sneezed himself.

"My goodness," Lucy exclaimed. "Someone hasn't cleaned this place in ages!"

He couldn't help but sneeze again in response.

The two of them traveled through the storage room filled with armor, mirrors, pottery and vases, masks, weapons, etc., until they finally reached the exit. They happily vacated the dusty room into a hallway with several doors.

"How in the world are we going to find this book?" Lucy asked.

"Let's look for a library," Gray suggested. "With Everlue being this rich, it'd be ridiculous if he didn't have one."

"Got a point there," Lucy agreed.

And that was where they began their long journey of traveling through the halls and rooms of Everlue's mansion to find a book and destroy it. Gray opened a door to find a bathroom of gold with Everlue's ugly face. He grimaced and shut the door. He really hoped they didn't bump into the guy because judging by the golden toilet he saw – this Everlue guy was a nutcase – and they were in for some weird shit. Thinking back, Gray thought that maybe he should have chosen a different mission because this seemed more of a job suited for that flame brain – when it came to destroying things that is.

They reached – what Gray guessed – the center of Everlue's mansion because it contained a plaza with vast empty space with a huge statue made out of gold of Everlue himself. Gray could only shake his head.

"Hey, Gray, I found it!" Lucy called. He looked up to see Lucy waving over to him. "It's quite impressive!"

Gray walked up and stood next to Lucy to see she was hardly exaggerating. The library had large bookcases reaching the ceiling and lined along the walls of the circular room with a sitting area in the middle.

"Oh wow," he responded. "You weren't kidding."

"Who would've thought that Everlue was a major bookworm," Lucy said.

As they were about to enter, Lucy suddenly turned around. She looked confused.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked with a raised brow.

"I feel a celestial spirit below us…" She scrunched her face. "It is loyal to its master, but it is looking for something better."

Gray widened his eyes, amazed and impressed. He could feel the magic pressure below them, but she identified what kind and the nature of it without trying. She really wasn't kidding about her ability. Hell, she even identified a celestial spirit! That took considerable skill, and it was pretty rare. Most high-skilled mage's, like himself, could identify magic pressure and how powerful they were, but to that detail – he concluded it had to be a plus with the pure magic she had. But what was interesting was he could easily identify her nature of magic for some reason or another.

"Yeah, I feel it too," he replied.

Just as he said that, a huge, gorilla-like maid with pink hair exploded from the ground with five other maids holding some sort of weapon. Lucy shrieked in surprise, but Gray could only blink as they yelled "Intruder Alert!" in unison. They really weren't much of a threat, so Gray pondered what he could do. He could just freeze them easily thanks to his ice devil slaying magic, but where was all the fun in that? He settled for his ice-make magic, which was more fun and creative. Gray smirked and held his fist in his palm. A crystal blue magic circle appeared with an intricate snowflake in the middle.

"Ice-Make: Hammer!"

So, a hammer out of ice materialized, and boy, the maids were in for a surprise because the hammer took a big swing and – BAM! – they were already flying at the Everlue's ugly statue of himself.

"I don't even know what to say," Lucy said, a bit dazed.

"The statue was the final straw," Gray replied in the same manner.

Lucy could only nod as they entered the library. They looked around before starting at opposite ends. Gray sighed as his eyes skimmed over the spines of the several books. Not once did he see the title _Daybreak. _He wondered if Lucy was having any luck. He turned and glanced behind him to see her on the ladder near the top of the bookcase skimming just as he was. First thing that came to mind was if the ladder was stable and safe enough. He shook his head and continued his search. He didn't know how long time had passed, but he was on the verge of freezing the whole damn place when Lucy gave called out to him excitedly.

"Gray, I found it!"

"Seriously?"

The devil slayer turned around and saw a smiling Lucy waving a golden book in her hand. He squinted his eyes and indeed the title _Daybreak_ was printed across it with a picture of a sunset below.

"Yeah, and it's by Kemu Zaleon," Lucy said. "I don't understand why our client would want to destroy an amazing novelist's book."

"Kemu Zaleon?" Gray repeated.

Lucy began her careful trek down the ladder, but it didn't ease Gray's mind one bit. His gut feeling was right when the ladder suddenly unlatched itself. He saw Lucy's body freeze. In a flash, he teleported by the ladder and pushed it back against the bookcase before it fell any further.

"Th-Thank you!" Lucy stuttered. "I-I don't think I can move…"

"I won't let you fall," Gray said. "Trust me."

Lucy fumbled with her grip on the rungs of the ladder for a moment before slowly moving down. Gray let out a small breath of relief he didn't know he was holding when she made it safely down. Lucy turned and stared at the ground. He guessed she sensed another magical presence, and she was right, of course.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Everlue himself exploded from the ground. "I knew you low-life wizards were around to steal something, but I didn't think it would be that stupid book."

"Stupid?" Lucy repeated, offended. "But…"

"Lucy," Gray said. "Let's destroy it."

"I have to read it!" Lucy said.

Gray blinked, totally caught off guard by her suggestion. "Right now?!"

"Enough nonsense!" Everlue shouted. "Do you realize who I am? Get your filthy hands of my book! Vanish Brothers!"

The bookcases in the library shifted apart to show a passageway. Gray immediately sensed two beings hidden in the darkness. They walked out into the library, and Gray immediately began to analyze them. They were brothers, so they communication and teamwork between them would be on point. However, one was tall and buff and the other was short and lean and happened to be carrying some weird, giant, metal pan. He already sensed the bigger of the two would be stronger while the smaller one would be faster. Gray also noticed the sign of their mercenary guild printed on their clothes; they were the Southern Wolves. He snapped out of his analyzation when he felt Lucy clench onto the sleeve of his white coat nervously as she hid behind him, hugging the book to her chest.

"Good afternoon. You called us, sir?" the shorter one greeted politely.

"Can you believe that these punks are Fairy Tail wizards? Talk about a disappointment," the bigger one mocked.

"Who are they?" Lucy whispered behind him.

"Mercenaries."

Gray drowned out some speech that Everlue was giving and trained his eyes on Lucy. "Why do you need to read it?"

"It doesn't make any sense! Kemu Zaleon was an amazing novelist! I've read all his books but this one. Something's just not right…"

Gray sighed. He decided to trust Lucy's gut on this one. "I suppose I'll stall?"

Lucy smiled. "If you would be so kind!"

Gray felt her grip on his sleeve loosen, and he watched as she made her way to the table in the center of the room to grab a pair of red Gale-Force reading glasses to help her speed read. She sat on the desk and placed the reading glasses on and opened the book. Gray turned his attention back to Everlue and the Southern Wolves.

"The Southern Wolves are always hungry for fresh game!" Everlue said with a strange laugh. "Say your prayers, thieves!"

There was a slight pause. Gray could feel the corner of his lips twitch up, slightly amused. Everlue was trying to get a reaction from them, but 1) he was hardly fazed, 2) Lucy was reading to even make a reaction at all, and 3) he's faced much, _much _worse than some mercenaries.

Gray cleared his throat. "You done?"

And that was the last straw for Everlue. The guy's face was priceless. His eyes bugged out of their sockets, and his jaw dropped to the ground. He began childishly stomping his feet around and yelling at him. Gray didn't register the insulting words or whatever the hell he was saying. He was enjoying his time watching the duke have a storm. Sadly, the Vanish Brothers weren't too amused.

"Kill that bastard!" Everlye yelled.

"Gray!"

Said wizard turned around to see Lucy walk up to him. He noticed she was already quite a ways through the book. "Find something?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I need to read the whole thing for it all to make sense."

"Like I said before, I'll stall!"

"Stop ignoring me!" Everlue screamed.

Lucy only ran past them and out the door.

"I'll go after the girl!" Everlue stated, disappearing into the ground. "You take care of this prick and make sure he doesn't come out of here in one piece!"

"You heard the boss," Shortie said.

"This should be easy," Big said.

"Hardly fair," Shortie replied. "It's two on one."

"Tch," Gray clicked his tongue. "I'll be just fine."

"Woah, you sure talk big for such a little guy," Big remarked.

"Perhaps we should put him in his place," his smaller brother suggested. He turned his attention to Gray. "So you're an ice wizard?"

Gray raised his brows. "Good guess."

"We saw you fight with Virgo," Big clarified. "That's how we know."

And just like Gray predicted, Big attacked first. Gray sighed as the guy jumped into the air and came down with an axe kick. Gray dodged and had to admit that he was indeed impressed by the sheer power of the kick. As Big's kick came into contact with the ground, debris of rubble and splinted wood flew everywhere. Reminded him of good, old Laxus, but the mercenary wasn't even a good match to the Lightning Dragon Slayer. The ice mage snapped out of his thoughts when Shortie suddenly appeared in front of him and swung that giant, ridiculous pan of his. Because Gray was distracted, he didn't have time to dodge like he normally would, so he just used his teleportation magic and teleported outside the library on top of Everlue golden statue of himself. He watched as the force of Shortie's swing blew out the wall.

"Where'd the hell he go?" Big asked angrily.

"He's fast," Shortie acknowledged.

The Vanish Brothers appeared out of the library.

"That cocky bastard!" Big yelled as he saw Gray. "Look!" he pointed to him. "He's just sitting there on the statue!"

Gray could only raise a brow at the insult. "Cocky bastard?" he echoed. "I was just waiting, asshole. You guys were taking a while."

"You pathetic wizards are no match for trained mercenaries like us!" Big shouted.

Gray blinked. "If that's your best, I would highly recommend you reconsider that illogical statement."

"Woah, this kid is getting on my nerves," Big said to Shortie.

Shortie scoffed. "You're so hot-headed. Don't let his smart-talk get to you. He's just trying to taunt you."

Gray sweatdropped. He wasn't trying to do anything...

"Do you happen to know what a wizard's greatest weakness is?" Shortie asked.

"Enlighten me."

"It's their bodies," Shortie explained. He flew toward him with incredible speed, but Gray easily jumped off the statue and gracefully landed on the ground. "Since wizards have to focus so intensely on holding their mental abilities..."

Big jumped down and punched the ground where Gray was standing only a second before. Like before, with his raw strength, the ground was reduced to nothing but rubble. "They neglect their bodies leaving themselves physically weak and vulnerable..." he finished.

"On the other hand, mercenaries like us focus on our physical abilities," Shortie finished.

"Which makes us stronger and faster than you," Big finished with a smug smirk.

Gray couldn't help but role his eyes at their ignorance. "You guys are idiots."

Shortie blinked, shocked. "Excuse me?"

"Do you really think wizards from guilds wouldn't know that? You probably encountered wizards who don't know any better and hide behind their magic," Gray explained matter-of-factly. "That's why" – Big roared in anger and went flying toward him with a punched. Gray didn't even bother to dodge and just caught it – "wizards like me train both." The ice mage began freezing the Big's arm. Big screamed in pain and that was Gray's cue to send him an uppercut to the jaw, which sent the poor mercenary flying into Everlue golden statue.

"Impossible," Shortie said with wide eyes.

Gray lunged toward the short mercenary, who pathetically shielded himself behind his pan. He teleported behind the guy and sent a roundhouse kick to Shortie's head, leaving him out cold and done for.

The ice mage inspected the damage around before trying to find Lucy's magical aura. He closed his eyes and with some effort, he sensed Lucy's presence down below, and she was not alone. Neither was he.

Gray turned around to see none other than Virgo.

**2 2 2**

Lucy sat in one of the underground passageways of the Everlue mansion. Her golden braid fell over her shoulder as she read _Daybreak_. Her brows were furrowed as she fanned the pages with an incredible speed. Her eyes absorbed the words quickly thanks the Gale-Force glasses. She fanned the last section she had to read and was finally done. She took off the glasses and placed them beside her before closing the book.

"That was amazing," she whispered to herself in the darkness. "I knew it held some sort of secret!"

Lucy jumped up when she felt Everlue's vile magic presence approaching her from behind. She stepped a back a few steps to get a safe distance between her and the duke. And just like she said, Everlue exploded out of the wall, attempting to grab her, but instead, he grabbed nothing but air. He grinned sickly at her.

"Well then, please share that little secret! You shouldn't keep a secret from a friend."

"No way!" Lucy snarled, angered by what she read. "A man like you doesn't deserve to know! You're an enemy of literature!"

"The enemy of literature?! Did you not see my library?!"

Lucy only continued glaring at him with bared teeth.

"Tell me, does it contain a treasure map inside? Some clue to a hidden fortune?" Everlue hopped out of the wall. His nose flared. "TELL ME, YOU BLONDE THIEF! I COMMISSIONED THE BOOK'S VERY CREATION! Therefore, any secret it holds is RIGHTFULLY MINE!"

Everlue lunged toward her. Lucy froze for two reasons: 1) this was her first fight, and 2) she actually had to hurt someone. She dodged Everlue just in time, but she was hardly relaxed when he used his Diver magic to disappear into the ground. She continued dodging when he began springing up from the ground to get the book from her, but she couldn't avoid violence forever. The blonde shrieked when Everlue sprung out right before her. Out of reflex, she smacked the duke in the face with the book.

"You bitch!" he howled in pain.

Lucy hugged the book closer to her chest, and she felt her magic coursing through her body into her fist. White light emanated from her hand. It was much like Natsu's fire. Only, instead of fire, it was pure, wispy white light. It wasn't a harsh brightness. Instead, it was a soothing, soft one. Her magic was itching to knock some sense into this duke, and she did. Lucy drew her fist back to the unsuspecting Everlue and WHAM! – she socked him in the cheek. He flew back a ways, but it was nothing compared to what she's seen from Gray.

"Come on, Lucy," she told herself. She was a Fairy Tail mage: she didn't need to be so reserved in using her magical power. She could use it freely now. Without the insulting and degrading comments of her father. And just like that, her magic was flaring from her body to show her true anger for what he had done.

Everlue shakily pulled out a golden gate key, causing Lucy's eyes to widen in surprise. He was a celestial wizard?!

"Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" he yelled.

Lucy squinted her eyes when a murky purple magic circle appeared. Just like Everlue had been doing the whole day, Virgo, the giant gorilla maid exploded from the ground. The blonde and Everlue were about to battle it out when they both noticed Gray standing on her shoulder, looking lost and a bit confused. Both Lucy and Everlue were confused as well but mostly shocked.

"What is the meaning of this?" Everlue asked.

"Gray, what are you doing?" Lucy inquired.

"I...don't know..." He scratched his head. "I saw her get up and grabbed her and then we appeared here."

"But that means..." Everlue trailed off, the possibility of it all making him speechless.

"You traveled through the Celestial World," Lucy finished, even more amazed and shocked and confused. "But that's impossible!"

"Nevermind that," Gray said. His signature crystal blue magic circle appeared. "Ice-Make: Knuckle!"

Huge fists of ice slammed down on Virgo, knocking her out cold. Everlue was able to avoid it using his Diver's magic. Lucy swiveled around, sensing Everlue behind her.

Gray landed next to her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Perfect timing as always."

**2 2 2**

Just as she said that, Everlue appeared from the ground. Gray was about to just freeze him because the duke was just getting annoying, but Lucy went ahead of him.

"I got this one," she called over her shoulder with a bright smile as always.

Before he could say anything, the ice mage's breath was taken away when her magic circle appeared. The color was white, but it was the most comforting hue he had ever seen in his life. It was a softer tone, almost like it could caress anything, and it seemed impossible that it could hurt anything as well. He squinted his eyes to pick of flecks of gold, and he saw that a dove was in the center of her magic circle. Hell, even Everlue stopped because the aura of Lucy's magic was just so tranquil and filled with plenty of other nice things, unlike his own.

"Lucy Kick!"

Gray blinked at the name but stopped questioning anything when Lucy gave a solid roundhouse kick to Everlue's cheek. The poor duke went flying into solid wall with a few missing teeth and blood running out of his mouth. The force of the kick must've been great because Everlue easily broke through. That must have been the last straw of his mansion as well because it had begun to tremble with pieces of rubble falling from the ceiling.

"Whoops..." Lucy said with a frown.

Gray chuckled. "You're definitely going to fit in well."

"But–" she stopped when he teleported next to her and held out his arm.

"Grab on," he ordered. "We have to get out before the whole thing falls on us."

Gray watched as she wordlessly grasped his arm. Satisfied, he teleported outside just in time to see the mansion collapse.

"Master Makarov isn't going to be happy about this one..." he mentioned.

Lucy sweatdropped. "I hope I don't get blamed for this."

"Hardly, Everlue brought it upon himself."

She sighed. "We should get back to our client."

"Right behind you."

It didn't take long for them to be welcomed back into the same room they met their clients after they arrived at their door. They both sat on the plushy couch while their client sat in the same armchair with his wife behind him. He and Lucy decided that she would take charge since she found out that _Daybreak_ really did contain a secret. He couldn't help but feel proud of her in a way. He told her that, and she just blushed like she always did, much to his pleasure.

"I read _Daybreak_," Lucy started hesitantly.

"But–" Kaby started. He stopped when Lucy put up her hand.

"When I read it, I couldn't believe that Kemu Zaleon wrote it," Lucy explained. "There's no way he would've wrote something that bad."

"So?" Kaby asked.

"So I knew there must be a spell on it. It was possible because Zaleon was a wizard before he became a novelist."

Gray glanced at Lucy, impressed that she knew her facts. She only flashed him a tiny smile before focusing back on her task. She stood up and gave the book to Kaby.

"I don't understand," he said. "I requested that this book be destroyed. Why are you handing it back to me completely unscathed?"

"If you really want to destroy it, I really rather you do it yourself," Lucy said sympathetically.

"I most certainly will destroy this trash," he seethed. "I never wanted to see it again."

"I completely understand," Lucy replied softly. "I understand the reason why you feel about this book, Kaby. You want to protect your father's legacy because you're actually Zaleon's son, aren't you?"

Gray blinked. Woah, he was not expecting that.

Kaby sighed and looked down. "Yes, that's true."

"Have you read it yourself?"

"No, I could never bring myself to do it..." Kaby admitted. "My father told me it was garbage."

Gray narrowed his eyes. "You were just going to destroy it?" An image of his deceased father popped up in his head. "You're not even going to read his last book? You know, some of us would kill for that kind of memory."

He felt Lucy's concerned and worried gaze, but he ignored it. He really wanted to give the man a piece of his mind. It wasn't like him to get angry, but his last memory of his father wasn't something he liked to remember. Even if it was a so called trashy novel, Kaby should read it. He clenched his jaw to hold back a tirade that he would surely regret. Lucy probably wouldn't be impressed either because he would just be abusing their client, and it was unlike him.

Gray tensed when he felt Lucy's hand rest on his shoulder, and almost immediately, he felt her magic rush through him, and he felt a certain tranquility. He looked at her, a bit annoyed that she used her magic on him but at the same time grateful. He furrowed his brow when he felt...something in his magic react to hers. He started wondering about it but snapped out of his own thoughts when Kaby started speaking again.

Kaby sighed. "_Daybreak_ caused my family great heartache and shame. It happened thirty-one years ago...

"He suddenly came home after three years. He hadn't contacted us or sent letters or anything for three years, and of course, I was upset. I remember shouting at him, but he paid me no heed and cut off his arm, saying he would never write again. He was later hospitalized, and I remember telling him he should have listened to me. He shouldn't have worked for that filthy man, Duke Everlue. I asked him why, and you know what he told me? It was because of the money. The old man was smiling...

His eyes teared up. "He said he thought about me the whole time... The last...the last thing I told him was that he..." Kaby swallowed. "That he was a sad excuse for a writer, and he wasn't much of a father." He let out a deep breath. "Not long after that, he died, but the anger and betrayal lived on. But now, my anger has turned into remorse over the years, and it's too late for me to ask for his forgiveness. So I decided to make amends by destroying the book that caused so much unhappiness. This is the only way I can preserve his legacy..."

"No, Kaby..." Lucy said softly. "Look."

Gray watched with a raised brow as a light blue magic circle suddenly appeared from the book. The only thing he could think of right then was Lucy exceeded her expectation as a newbie. The thought of working with her again lurked in the back of his mind. She was sharp and intelligent, and it was never boring with her. He suddenly thought of maybe even permanently forming a team with her because of her qualities, and the fact that he was a little protective of her even though they just met, or that is what he would like to say, but his magic was acting peculiarly around her.

"A spell was cast on it," Lucy explained. "The spell was cast by the wizard Kemu Zaleon, or should I say, Zekua Melon!"

Gray blinked twice when he thought he imagined the letters in _Daybreak_ rearranged to _Dear Kaby. _But no, he wasn't imagining things. The discovery only told him not only the title was mixed up but the whole book as well. Talk about a plot twist, he thought to himself sardonically.

"Dear Kaby?" their client read.

"That right," Lucy said with a smile. "This was your father's letter to you disguised behind a spell that rearranged all of the words, so no one else could read it." Suddenly, the words from the book came streaming out in golden letters. Gray couldn't help but whistle as golden letters floated in the air and surrounded them.

Lucy continued. "He didn't stop writing because he was ashamed, he stopped because he finished his master piece, a novel containing everything he ever wanted to say to his beloved son. And when you read it the way he intended, it's easily his best work ever."

Tears streamed down Kaby's face.

"Now that the spell has been broken, you can read it for yourself," Lucy finished. As if on cue, the golden letters slowly dimmed and reentered the book.

Gray sighed after witnessing everything and got up. "Well," he started, "I suppose we won't be collecting the award." Kaby, his wife, and Lucy looked at him in surprise. "We were supposed to destroy it," he went on. "We didn't finish the job."

"Even so, let me do something!" Kaby protested.

"Thanks for offering, but we don't want it," Gray rejected.

"It is about time we head home," Lucy added, still surprised at the refusal of the reward money.

Gray started walking away but glanced over his shoulder. "Agreed, that goes for you two as well."

Lucy looked at him in confusion.

**2 2 2**

"It's still hard to believe you refused to accept two million jewels," Lucy commented.

"It wouldn't have looked nice," Gray responded simply. "You have to think of Fairy Tail's reputation. Besides, they wouldn't have been able to pay anyway. They were just using the place to make people think they were rich."

"Oh yeah, how'd you know the house wasn't theirs?" Lucy asked curiously.

"The photo on the coffee table. It was the couple who actually owned the place."

"Ah, I didn't really pay attention to that. My mistake." Lucy bit her lip. How could she possibly miss that? The picture was literally right there, but she had been so distracted by the beauty of the intricately decorated house. She sighed, disappointed in herself. She was an ex-heiress for Pete's sake. _But it was a really pretty mansion, _her mind argued. Yes,

"Uh, Lucy?" Gray called.

"Hm?"

"You okay? You spaced out."

"Oh, uh, yeah," she said. "Just a little frustrated for not noticing."

Gray blinked, his brows furrowing a second later. "But you did a fantastic job for a newbie," he complimented sincerely. "In fact, you performed so smoothly, I would definitely consider taking another job with you."

Lucy felt her cheeks blush as she gazed into his midnight blue eyes. "R-Really?" she stuttered.

He flashed her a tiny smile. "Really."

Her eyes widened as she stared hard at Gray, trying to make sure if all this was real. A smile twitched on her lips before it slowly spread and brightly lit up her face. This feeling of praise and support was so different than what she was used to back at home. _No_, she reminded herself. What she thought was a home was nothing but the opposite. Fairy Tail was her family now. These people...

"What?" Gray asked. "Is there something on my face?"

Lucy giggled. "No, I'm just...happy." He remained silent, but Lucy knew that was his way of saying "go on": she noticed he was more a listener than anything else. "Thank you."

Gray tilted his head to the side. "For what?"

"Bringing me to Fairy Tail."

* * *

_**And there you have it! Chapter 2! Hope you like it and let me know what you think! Any questions, PM me. Other than that, stay tuned!**_


	4. 3 3 3

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. These new-ish plot deviations are the only thing belonging to me. _**

**_Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :) This chapter has a lot of dialogue, so there won't be a lot of introspection or reflectiveness at this point because too many things are going on at once. This will happen a lot when there are more characters that I can handle, as well as many more fight scenes. Also, the numbers in between my writing doesn't always mean a scene change. It could also mean a perspective change. If you have any questions or concerns, don't be afraid to PM me. _**

* * *

**The Ice Devil's Angel**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

**3 3 3**

"If we cut through here, Magnolia should be about half an hour from here," Gray said, scanning his surroundings.

"Ah, bless," Lucy sighed. Her feet were beginning to ache, but it wasn't like she was going to complain anytime soon.

The duo continued trudging through the peaceful woods until Lucy suddenly stopped, perplexed.

Gray raised a brow. "What is it?"

"I believe Nat–"

Movement from the bushes beside them shook, and Gray wasted no time and froze it. Natsu and Happy jumped from the bushes, yelling in shock and pain. The fire mage and the blue cat ran in circles with parts of their body frozen.

"su and Happy are here..." Lucy finished in surprise at how quickly Gray moved.

The devil slayer blinked, his magic aura dying down. "Well, what do you know."

Lucy blushed, quickly turning away because the dragonslayer was indecent. "Natsu, why are you in your underwear?"

"I fell in the damn river, that's what!" Natsu growled. "Gray, I am going to kick your ass!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Sure."

Before Lucy knew, the two were childishly brawling with one another. "Do you two always have to fight?" Lucy inquired worriedly.

Happy appeared on her head and cheered, "You can take him, Natsu!" The cat then whispered an octave lower. "In like a hundred years..."

After they settled their squabble, meaning Gray kicking Natsu's ass (again), the lot of them sat in a clearing atop a cliff with a nice view of the mountainous valleys and Magnolia not too far from them. There was a fire drying Natsu's damp clothes, and a few fish being cooked.

"So you're on your way back from a job?" Lucy asked Natsu, passing Happy a stick of fish.

"Yeah, saved Macao from a bunch of Vulcans at Mt. Hakobe then Happy and I decided to go fishing."

"And Natsu fell in the river because he couldn't reel in the fish," Happy laughed.

Natsu scoffed, putting his clothes back on. "Not my fault the fish was the size of a whale."

"More like a shark," Happy argued.

"Psh, whatever," Natsu huffed, biting into some fish.

Gray stood up. "We should get going unless we want trouble."

"Why do you say that?" Lucy queried.

The ice mage looked at Magnolia. "Because Erza's due back anytime now."

Natsu choked on his fish and paled.

"Erza Scarlet?" Lucy gasped in excitement.

"Yup," Happy said, nibbling on his fish. "She's the most powerful woman in all of Fairy Tail."

"I can't wait to meet her," the blonde happily said. "What's she like?"

"Scary," Natsu whispered.

"Strict," Gray said at the same time.

"A wild animal, no a vile beast," Natsu went on.

"A bit much," Gray offered.

"More like a full on monster," Happy claimed.

Lucy could only imagine a giant raging over towns and villages. She could only blink, not really knowing what to say. "Um..."

Gray looked at Natsu with raised brows. "Come on, Natsu, she's not _that_ scary."

The fire mage gave him a haunted look. "Don't you remember the time we fought and ruined her strawberry cheesecake by accident when we were younger?"

Gray's silence spoke volumes.

"Well?" Natsu pressed.

"Okay, yeah, " the ice mage finally admitted. "We can all agree that she's maybe a little scary."

"Maybe?" Natsu echoed.

"A little?" Happy gaped.

"She can kick down three mountains with a single kick," Natsu trembled.

"I'd say one," Gray reasoned.

"Come on, it's more like two," Happy argued.

Lucy paled. "Just the fact that she can kick down one mountain is scary enough."

"Like I said, we should probably get back," Gray said.

"Shit," Natsu swore, getting up. "Let's get moving!"

Lucy was about to agree when she felt a sudden surge of magic building up, as well as four other magic presences tagging along. Their magic didn't feel dark, maybe a little conflicted over something. She could even sense a little hunger. Lucy scolded herself for not noticing earlier, but they hid their presence very well.

"Wait, watch out!" she warned. Her magic reacted quicker than she could think.

The ground magic hit them and caused an explosion. As the dirt cloud disappeared, heaps of sand were splayed everywhere, supposedly trying to bury them alive. However, Lucy reacted and was able to protect all of them with her magic. Her magic seal was glowing and her magic formed into white and gold feathers acting as a shield. Once she deemed it was safe, she let her magic disappear.

"Are you guys okay?" Lucy asked worriedly.

Gray nodded, coughing. "Nice save."

"Wow!" Natsu's eyes sparkled. "That was so cool! Fight me!"

Gray whacked him on the head. "Not now, Flame-Brain. We need to know what the hell's going on."

"Happy?" Lucy called, looking around. "Happy? Where's Happy?"

"They probably took him," Gray concluded, standing up to dust himself off.

"Those assholes!" Natsu snarled, his fists lighting up.

"Let's go!" Gray said. "They shouldn't be too far. Can you track them, Lucy?"

"Not quite, they're being able to hide their magic well. I don't know how, but I'm able to pick up some residue."

"They must be a dark guild. Stealth is usually what they excel at because they kill for money," Gray explained.

She shivered. "Kill?"

The ice mage offered his hand. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

Lucy felt heat rush to her cheeks. How could he say things like that so easily? _Did he really mean it,_ she wondered. She looked into his dark blue eyes and decided that yes, he did. Without any hesitation, she placed her soft, small hand into his large, calloused one and let him help her up. The instant she touched his cold hand, her skin tingled and her magic danced. She thought she just imagined it, but the way his eyes widened ever so slightly told her he felt it too. She could feel his magic stir and almost want to _latch_ onto hers.

She looked up at him with widened eyes. "Your magic..." she whispered. "It..."

He immediately he let go of her hand as if he had been burnt. Gray cleared his throat, looking at the dragonslayer. "Natsu, can you track them with your nose?"

"You don't even need to ask. Follow me!"

Lucy ran behind the two. She couldn't help but stray her eyes to Gray's back with concern. He may be an S-class mage, but his magic seemed to have a mind of its own.

**3 3 3**

Happy suddenly found himself tied upside down above some firewood. He was struggling when he noticed he was surround by a group of mages: twins, a goblin of some kind, a fortune teller, and a giant chicken.

"We're finally going to get some real protein," one of the twins spoke with drool sliding down the side of his mouth.

"No berries for us tonight," his brother said in relief.

The chicken screeched, "Meat!"

"Our future holds a feast," the fortune teller prophesied.

Happy began to tremble.

"Wow, look at him shaking," the twins snickered.

"Relax," the goblin smirked. "You're going to be in our bellies soon enough, so there's no need to be scared."

"Actually," Happy interjected. "I'm not shaking like this because I'm scared, I just really have to use the bathroom. I can't hold it much longer, and I bet you it's going to make me taste weird."

"Who cares?" the goblin frowned. He looked at the giant chicken. "Cook him!"

The chicken murmured, "Meat!" again before taking out a large wooden staff. A red magic circle appeared and fire ignited.

"I'll take mine medium please," the fortune teller requested.

"Hey!" Happy whined. "I'm serious! It's going to make me taste weird. I just know it."

"Stop right there!" Natsu's voice shouted.

Happy looked up to see Natsu, Gray, and Lucy had found him. He smiled in relief. "Thank goodness! Now I'm not going to taste weird!"

"Oh, shut up!" the goblin growled.

"That's our friend you're trying to roast their buddy," Natsu scowled while cracking his knuckles.

"You're all wizards, aren't you?" Gray concluded. "What guild are you with?"

The goblin sniggered. "I'm not telling. Let's get 'em, boys!"

Natsu grinned. "Gray, let's do it."

"All right, but don't go telling me what to do."

"Be careful," Lucy pleaded. "I'll go help Happy."

The fire and ice mage nodded before proceeding into battle. Lucy watched in awe as the both of them easily dodged the attacks from their foes. Natsu headed straight for the goblin while Gray proceeded to take care of the rest of the gang without any magic. The blonde made her way through the ruckus to the blue cat.

"Happy!" she called.

"Lucy!" Happy yelled in relief. "You're not going to eat me, are you?"

She giggled as she began untying the ropes. "No, silly cat."

Because Lucy was so focused on her task, she didn't realize the big chicken came up behind her due to the fact it had no magic. It wasn't until a giant shadow fell over her that she froze, and Happy cried out in shock. Lucy whirled around to see the giant animal wielding his fire staff. Before anyone could react, Gray teleported in front of the beast and gave it a solid roundhouse kick to the head.

"You guys okay?" Gray asked as he landed.

"Yes, thank you," Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.

The fortune teller suddenly came out of nowhere and he appeared to be preparing for a giant attack with his glowing/levitating orb along with some sound effects. Gray instinctively stepped in front of Lucy.

"You've met someone special but the stars point to great trouble with water, women, and the Underworld. Oh my!"

Lucy felt her eyebrows furrow. _The Underworld?_

Gray sighed before elbowing the guy in the neck.

"Should we help Natsu?" Lucy asked in concern, eyeing the sand vortex of some sorts.

"Nah, he's good," Gray said.

They shift their eyes to the floating ball of whirling sand that Natsu happened to be stuck inside of until it suddenly exploded. "You jerk!" Natsu spat. "Now I've got a mouth full of sand because of you!"

The goblin took a step back. "Impossible! There's no way you could've broken out of that!"

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Lucy flinched, almost like she had been hit instead, as Natsu punched the goblin square in the face with a fist of fire. It would've all been fine if Natsu's magic wasn't so destructive. His fist not only annihilated the goblin but took out a section of the forest as well.

Seeing that all of their aggressors were knocked out, the Fairy Tail mages tied them up for good measure.

Gray took note of the damage. "Don't you think you might have gone overboard, Natsu?"

"So what if I did? I got the job done," he retaliated.

Gray sighed. "Grow up, Natsu. You should be able to minimize the damage and control your magic. You're not twelve."

"What?" Natsu snapped. "Shut up! It's not my fault that guy was pissing me off!"

"That's not much of an excuse."

"They tried to eat Happy, too!"

"Fair point, but you're lucky we're in the middle of nowhere. No civilians were hurt, and Gramps doesn't have to worry about paperwork and the damn council."

While the fire and ice mage were squaring off in their little squabble that was apparently escalating by the second, Lucy decided to get some information from their aggressors. That is if they decided to wake up. She scanned all of them to see they weren't going to wake up soon until she saw movement from the goblin. She knelt before him.

"Excuse me," she began politely. "I'd like to ask a few questions regarding you and your...friends."

"Lulla..." he wheezed softly.

Lucy knelt closer. "Lulla?"

"Lulla..by," the goblin finished.

"Lullaby?" Lucy repeated in a whisper. Her magic began to react wildly, and her eyes widened in horror as it dawned on her. "It can't be..."

For some reason, she couldn't help but shiver. That's when she felt it. An eerie, sinister presence rushing towards them. It was almost imperceptible, but she was only able to detect it because of her gut feeling. Lucy whirled around to see Natsu and Gray still quarreling, and Happy futilely trying to dispel it. Where was this feeling coming from? She couldn't see anyone heading there way. Confused, she looked back at the goblin to see he was terrified and squirming to get free. She followed his eyesight, and that's when she saw it. A slithering shadow.

"Gray! Natsu! Happy!" Lucy yelled.

But it was too late.

The shadow powered by them, throwing them off balance, and zoomed straight to her and the goblin's group. The shadow expanded and moved underneath them. Lucy suddenly felt a pulling sensation, and her eyes widened when she realized the shadow was trying to pull her in.

"Lucy!" Gray shouted.

The devil slayer teleported to her and grabbed her arm just as she was about to be taken under and was able to pull her up and out of the shadow's strong grasp. She collapsed against him as they watched their aggressors and part of the tree disappear underground into the shadow. She suddenly felt Gray's hand cup her face and make her look at him.

"Hey," he said softly. "You good?"

"T-Thank you," she nodded, albeit shakily. "W-What was that?"

"More like who was that?" Natsu corrected.

Gray shifted his gaze, dropping his hands from Lucy's face, to where the shadow disappeared off to. "Well, whoever that was, they're fast. I can't even sense their presence anymore."

"But...what could this mean?" Natsu asked.

"Lullaby," Lucy murmured worriedly. She clutched onto the lapels of Gray's white coat. If it's what she thought it was, it didn't bode well for anyone.

* * *

**_Here's chapter 3! Hope you liked it. Stay tuned._**


	5. 4 4 4

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. These new-ish plot deviations are the only thing belonging to me. _**

**_Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :) This chapter is nice and long unlike my last one._**

* * *

**The Ice Devil's Angel**

**Chapter 4**

* * *

**4 4 4**

After that frightful encounter the previous day, Lucy found herself back at home. It was early morning, and she was cozily buried beneath the blankets until she remembered that she had to pay this month's rent next week. She woke up in a fright, cursing herself for forgetting that she and Gray ended up refusing the reward.

The blonde spastically got ready, throwing on a pink tank top and some ripped skinny jeans. She hopped on one foot at a time as she put on some casual sandals. Her hair was a rat's nest right now, but she could care less and speedily threw it up in a messy bun with a few golden strands framing her face. She hurriedly placed some bread in the toaster and speed walked to find her wallet, seeing that she needed to buy some groceries.

Lucy successfully found her evasive wallet under her bed when she heard a clack at the window. She sharply raised her head in surprise, sadly bonking it on her nightstand and knocking her celestial keys to the ground.

"Ow!" she cried. "Geez, today is just not my day..."

Lucy picked up her mother's keys from the ground. They glistened in the morning sunlight. She fondly held them to her chest, a pained expression on her face. It was going to be hard to give them away. Maybe she should let Master Makarov hang onto them for now, or maybe she should just wait until she finds a kind celestial mage like her mother was. However, there was one key she would absolutely never give away, and it was the one that she happened to have made a contract with when her mother passed away because she couldn't bare to part with her mother's magic in any way.

The blonde cradled Aquarius' key in her hand before clutching it to her chest with determination. Finding a golden chain, she hung the key around her neck. It wasn't like she was ever going to really use it or that she even knew how. But... Lucy looked out the window smiling. She knew that with Gray and Fairy Tail by her side, she may one day be able to summon the angry mermaid like she did when she was little. She had no idea how she did it then, but she had it in her somewhere.

Lucy flinched when there was another clack at her window.

"What in the?"

She placed the rest of her keys back on the nightstand before curiously opening her window to see none other than Gray in his signature white coat. He was casually leaning against a lamppost down below, tossing a pebble up and down in his hand. A smile spread across her lips as she leaned on her window sill.

"Looking for somebody?" she called out.

He flashed her a smirk. "Yes, I've got something for her."

She raised a brow. "She'll be down in five."

**4 4 4**

Gray stared at the golden gate key in his hand. The gorilla maid spirit had given it to him after they had defeated Everlue. The spirit's name was Virgo if he remembered correctly and said something about Lucy being a holder of gate keys. He found that odd since he never saw her use celestial magic nor did he remember her ever carrying keys when they first met. But then again, he was a bit taken by her beauty and magic when they first met.

"Gray!"

The ice mage chuckled when he saw Lucy waving at him with a piece of toast in her mouth. She weaved through the crowded street with such grace that Gray felt like he should clap. The sunlight gleamed off her and sparkled around her neck. His eyes squinted to see she was wearing a gold gate key around her neck. Either he never noticed, or she just starting wearing it. He decided it was the latter because his observational skills were pretty decent if he would say so himself.

"Sorry if I rushed you," Gray apologized as she appeared before him.

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "No, no, I was on my way out to buy some groceries anyway." She looked at him curiously. "So, you said you had something for me?"

Gray wordlessly presented her the golden gate key in his hand. "Uh, Virgo wanted me to give this to you. She said something about you being a holder of keys or something. I didn't think you were a celestial mage, but I accepted it nonetheless. I see I was right to do so."

Lucy's eyes widened, her hand instinctively clasping the key around her neck. "I...don't know what to say."

Gray felt himself give a crooked smirk. "Nothing, just take it."

A soft smile graced her lips. "Thank you," she whispered genuinely.

The devil slayer looked away, nervous. God, what the fuck was wrong with him? He wasn't in grade school anymore. "Yeah, sure," he managed, handing her the key. He was especially careful not to touch her skin this time because the feeling of it yesterday sent a jolt through his spine and his magic got a little out of control. And he didn't like it one bit.

"Hey, Gray, where are you going?" she asked, confused. "The guild's the other way."

Gray didn't even realize he was walking in the opposite direction. Geez, he was out of it today, and he silently blamed her for it.

"Right," he said slowly recovering. "But you said you need to grab some things?"

"You want to tag along?"

"Do you even know where you're going?" He watched as her face scrunched up cutely. "Thought so."

"Hey, I had some idea where I was going!"

He rolled his eyes. "I would believe you if that wasn't a total outright lie."

She pouted, crossing her arms. "I looked at a map."

He shrugged, a smirk adorning his face. "Suit yourself."

Gray was about to make his way back to the guild when Lucy grabbed onto his arm. "Okay, okay, fine. You win."

He arched a brow. "And?"

She blushed. "Could you please help me?"

Gray ruffled her hair. "See? Wasn't so bad to ask for help was it?"

Lucy just glared at him as she fixed her hair. Gray just shot her a smirk. He had to admit, the way she blushed and got flustered was just enjoyable in an endearing sort of way.

It wasn't long before Gray led Lucy to the local supermarket, and he immediately regretted offering any help whatsoever. Being a famous S-class mage had its perks, but this was just absurd. He was currently surrounded by a group of people, and then there were a handful of reporters that just happened to be in the area. They began hounding him with questions and the screeching fangirls were just giving his a raging headache and invading his personal space. Lucy, like the sweet person she was, went in to help, but honestly, it just scarred her. The fangirls started tugging at her clothes and hair, and some male reporters started touching her and trying to drag her over to them.

"Gray!" she shouted, terrified.

Without skipping a beat, his arm securely wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Hey!" Gray growled. "Back off!"

They all flinched and backed away a few steps. It honestly wasn't like him to lose his cool in public, but this was just madness. Just seeing her being tugged and pulled like a piece of meat had his blood boil. He also wished Lucy wasn't so damn nice to even bother to come help him because she wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place.

He ignored the onlookers and looked down at the blonde in his arms. "You okay?"

The blonde mutely nodded her head against his chest.

And that was the moment he heard a camera click. There was sudden flash after that, and Gray couldn't help but think, _Fuck. _Mira was so going to love the next issue of Sorcerer Weekly. It didn't help that they were in a somewhat intimate embrace. He wasn't going to hear the end of it, and Lucy... Geez, he felt just bad at this point.

"Don't they just look so cute!" a woman suddenly gushed, hands on her cheeks, hearts in her eyes.

"Yeah! She's so small compared to him!"

"Looks like the Ice Devil found his angel..." Insert dreamy sigh here.

"So Gray, can you tell us about this beautiful blonde?"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"How long have you been together?!"

Gray suppressed the urge to freeze everyone solid and instead muttered, "No comment."

He grabbed Lucy's hand, ignoring the tingle along his skin and the way his magic moved within him. He forced his way through the crowd with Lucy in tow and even froze the crowd's feet to temporarily stall because he knew they'd try to follow. Once the both of them were deeper within the supermarket with fewer people around, the both of them leaned against a rack of kitchen supplies and heaved sighs of relief.

"I'm...really sorry about that," Gray said.

When he didn't hear anything from Lucy, he glanced to the side finding her hands on her knees and her shoulders trembling. His eyes widened, inwardly freaking out. Was she...crying? The teardrops he spotted on the ground confirmed his thought. Fuck, how was he supposed to handle a crying a woman?

"Shit, Lucy, I'm so sorry," he started in a low voice.

It was when she burst out laughing that he thought she had a screw loose. She stood back up and wiped the tears from her eyes, and Gray realized that her trembling shoulders were actually signs of her inward laughter. And she was laughing so hard that tears were hanging at the corners of her eyes.

"Remind me to _never _go shopping with you again!" Lucy giggled uncontrollably.

"You..." He didn't even know what to say or think. This woman... He suddenly found himself smiling despite himself, and he could feel a laugh tickling the back of his throat for the first time in a while.

Since Lucy's laughter ceased, he looked at the blonde and found himself overly self-conscious by the way she was gaping at him.

"What?"

Her eyes sparkled. "You just _smiled_."

He felt himself blush and quickly looked away. "No, no I didn't."

"And you're blushing, too," she stated in awe.

"No," he refused.

"You should smile more often," she said honestly. "It looks good on you."

Gray dared to flick his eyes back to Lucy and found her smiling at him again. "I'll...keep that in mind."

"And you won't scare people away with that intimidating face of yours."

"Hey!"

She just laughed again, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

**4 4 4**

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" Lucy asked as she began putting her groceries away in her no-longer-empty fridge.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gray replied, taking a seat on her couch. "Nice place," he commented while looking around.

"Yeah, Mira helped me find it," Lucy responded, shoving ice cream and pizza in the freezer. "It's a bit much sometimes, but if I keep going on jobs I'll be okay."

He narrowed his eyes. "Solo?"

"Uh, well, no," she weakly replied at his gaze. "I'm not confident enough yet to do solo missions."

"Good," he said. "Not that I doubt your abilities, but I was about to feel left out if you left on a job without me."

"Without...you?"

Gray deeply chuckled. "Yes, Lucy. We're a team."

She felt herself smile. "I like the sound of that," she admitted. "But aren't you a solo mage?"

"I am," he admitted as well. "But I'm choosing you as my partner because I've never really worked well with anyone else."

She blushed and shifted her eyes shyly from the ice mage. _The things he says... _"Uh, the lower pay doesn't bother you?"

"Hardly." He then smirked. "Besides, someone has to keep an eye on you."

"I appreciate it," Lucy thanked sincerely.

She turned back around to the kitchen counter and began making herself some tea. _Tropical mango tea, here I come_, she thought, her throat dying for a nice warm beverage.

"When did you say your rent was due?" Gray asked.

"Next week."

"We could probably head out on one after Erza raises hell."

"Geez, you guys really make her sound like some demon," Lucy shivered.

Gray shrugged. "Like I said before, she can be a little scary."

"Natsu and Happy thought she was the devil incarnate or something," she said as she sat next to him with her cup of tea.

"That's because Natsu can't beat her."

Her eyes widened. "And you have?"

He gave her that confident smirk again. "It wasn't easy, but yeah, I did."

"Geez," Lucy whispered worriedly. "I'm in a guild full of monsters."

Gray laughed. "I actually can't disagree with that."

Lucy took a sip of her tea. "Should I be worried?"

"Nope."

"Why?" she pressed.

"Because you've got one hell of a partner."

**4 4 4**

About an hour or two later, Lucy made her way down to the guild with Gray. They went to pick out a job for later when Lucy got to witness firsthand Mira's brilliant transformation magic. And boy, was it hilarious.

"Hey Mira, can we get three beers over here please!" Macao called out.

"Be right with you," Mira cheerily said.

"So," Wakaba began to ask. The smoke billowing out of his pipe turned into hearts. "When are you and I going to go out on a date?"

Laki, the purple haired woman sitting across from the older man, looked at him with disgust. "Would you leave her alone, you pervert."

Mira only smiled. "Wakaba, there's one small problem." Her hand waved over her face and a pink magic circle appeared before it pixelated and morphed Mira's face into that of another woman."You already have a wife!"

"I hate it when you do that!" Wakaba whined.

Gray snickered beside her. "That never gets old."

Lucy giggled behind her hand. "Mira's a genius."

Before they could walk up to the job board, Natsu came screaming like a banshee with his fists ablaze. "Gray, fight me!"

Cana groaned. "Why can't I just drink in peace?"

Macao sweat-dropped. "Cana, it's not even noon yet."

"Natsu, give it a rest," Wakaba sighed. "You're not going to win."

"You go ahead and pick a job," Gray sighed, dodging Natsu fist. "I'll be busy entertaining, Ash-for-brains."

"Why did you say, Ice Princess?"

A vein popped on Gray's forehead. "Don't call me that, Slanty-eyes!"

Lucy rolled her eyes at their childish banter. She walked up to the job board and pondered as she looked over all of the different types of jobs. _Finding a magic bracelet, breaking a spell on a cursed cane, reading someone's love horoscope? Hunting a volcano demon?! _"Wow, I had no idea that wizarding jobs were so varied," she mumbled to herself.

"Well, let me know when you find one that you're interested in," Mira said, walking up to her with her signature smile. "The master's away at a conference, so I'm covering for him."

"A conference?" she echoed.

"One for guild masters," Mira explained. "Every once in a while they all congregate and talk about the state of things. It's like the Magic Council, but only smaller." She paused, turning to a very big, round man sitting at the bar. "Excuse me, Reedus, may I please borrow a lightpen?"

"Oui," he nodded, handing it to her.

Mira began drawing a chart in the air. "The council, Era, is the most powerful organization in the magical world. It's only one step below the government. It has ten members, and it's their job to uphold all magical rules and regulations. If a wizard breaks the magical law, they will be tried by the council. Then there are the different guild master leagues, which are local groups that work together and then there are the individual masters. They are the ones that are in charge of passing on the decrees of the council, and they also communicate with other guild masters on a regular basis," Mira paused. "I guess you could say they're the glue that holds all of us together, which is a pretty stressful job."

"Wow," Lucy breathed in wonder. "I never realized that all the different magical guilds were interconnected like that."

Mira nodded. "It's important that we cooperate with one another, otherwise their system would fall apart."

"Then the guys in black would show up!" Natsu hissed behind her, appearing out of nowhere. The flames on his fist illuminated his evil face mysteriously.

Lucy gave a small shriek of horror as her heart literally jumped out of her chest. Natsu started laughing boisterously at her with his hands grabbing his stomach and his head thrown back.

"Oh, man," he grinned. "You made it too easy!"

"Natsu," Gray said slowly. "That really wasn't a good idea."

Before Lucy could even register what she was doing, her fist became laced in her feathery white and gold magic as she drew it back. Natsu kept on laughing like a hyena, but she cut him off as she punched his square in the jaw. He screamed as he flew into the nearest table, which just happened to be Cana and Macao's. The table crushed under his weight and spilled Cana's beer onto the floor. The brunette was awfully silent as she drew out her cards, magic circles popping out from each of them.

"Cana, wait!" Macao warned.

Lightning crackled out of the cards and fried a few people nearby, inevitably starting an all out brawl across the guild hall.

"Oh, oh, my god," Lucy paled. "I'm so sorry!" She started a brawl in the guild hall! What is wrong with her? And she was able to hit Natsu?

"Lucy!" Natsu roared over the commotion of the guild, his body on fire. "Fight me!"

Lucy paled, looking at Gray for help, but he just stared at her like she was a different person. His dark blue eyes said nothing, except she could see...they were full of mirth? A grin slowly stretched across his lips, and her stomach did a little flip.

"Damn, Lucy," Gray whistled, impressed. "You've got a killer right hook."

"Um," she squeaked, her ears turning red.

What did she just do? Either Fairy Tail was a really bad influence on her or she was being her real self. The person she couldn't be around her father. She was morphed into an obedient daughter, who finally had enough and ran away. But, now...she was beginning to open herself up and feel more comfortable around these people by just being herself, especially with Gray.

Mira giggled behind her. "He's right, though."

"Huh?" was her intelligent reply.

"The guys in black that Natsu was referring to," Mira explained. The tension on her face was visible. "They really do exist. They're the dark guilds. They've chosen not to join any of the leagues. They're the bad apples, and most of them are involved in magical crime."

Lucy shivered, remembering how Bora used his magic. Apparently, other dark wizards can do far, far worse. She felt a burning presence and saw Natsu heading her way. She froze before instinctively hiding behind Gray.

"Natsu, cut it out," Gray said. "You're scaring her, and she clearly doesn't want to fight you."

Lucy peered around Gray's broad frame to see Natsu's magic die down. "Sorry, Luigi," Natsu apologized.

"It's Lucy," she muttered, clutching the back of Gray's coat.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the fire mage waved off. "If you don't want to fight, then how about you go on a job with me and Happy? I bet we'd make a great team."

"Um," Lucy didn't want to say no, but she had a partner already.

"Sorry, but she's already with me," Gray stated.

Lucy heard Mira squeal in the background.

"Huh?" Natsu's eyes narrowed before he set them on Lucy. "I wouldn't stay with this loser if I were you, Luigi. You'll get plenty of better offers from other teams."

Gray smirked. "Loser, huh? You've never beaten me, Natsu."

"What'd you say, Popsicle?"

"You heard what I said, Dragon Boy."

Lucy took a step back as their magic flared about them. She glanced worriedly between them. The serious nature of their magic right now was a bit frightening. She took another step back, bumping into Mira.

"Sorry, Mira," she apologized.

"No worries, Lucy," Mira smiled. Her smiled turned sickly sweet, hearts appearing in her eyes. "Oh, this is just delicious. They're fighting for your hand and companionship. The ice knight in shining armor is defending the princess from the ferocious dragon."

"Uhh, Mira," Lucy said worriedly as the Take Over mage when into Lala land.

"Why don't you join the team of love with me, Lucy," a husky voice whispered behind her, an arm wrapping around her shoulder. She looked up to see none other than the guild's resident playboy, Loke. "Later tonight, just the two of us." His voice went an octave lower, and she gave a nervous laugh.

"Excuse me?" she uttered in surprise.

He pushed his blue tinted glasses up. "You're just so stunningly gorgeous I have to keep my shades on when I look at you, or I'll be blinded by your dazzling beauty."

Lucy raised her brows. "I can't believe girls really fall for this."

Loke smirked, but he froze when he saw her Aquarius gate key around her neck. He jumped a good step back and looked at her in disbelief and slight horror. "You're not a celestial wizard, are you?!"

"Uh, not really–"

"Curse you fate! Why do you toy with me so!" Loke cried dramatically, not really listening to her. "I'm sorry, but you and I can't be together, my princess."

Lucy blinked as he dashed outside the guild. "What got into him all of a sudden?"

"Loke has a bad history with celestial wizards," Mira enlightened. "Rumor has it he dated one, and it didn't end well."

"Oh," Lucy said with a concerned look. The feeling of his magic was very familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Other than the fact it felt ancient and warm, almost like Natsu's, but it almost pained her to try and feel it for some reason.

The blonde was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Natsu's presence heading her way. Without looking, she casually side-stepped out of the way as Natsu went barreling into a wooden pillar – since Mira also elegantly got out of the way – his body slamming into it with a loud thwack.

"That looked painful," Mira commented without the slightest hint of pity.

"Would the two of you just knock it off already," Cana groaned, rubbing her temples because of a hangover.

"I'm just finishing what he started," Gray said stoically.

"You were the one who was provoking me, you dirty Slime ball," Natsu snarled.

"Oh yeah, and what did I exactly do to provoke you, Fire clown?"

"Pervy Flasher!"

"Pink-haired punk!"

"It's _salmon!"_

"What is up with their rivalry?" Lucy asked Mira. "Their insults are so lame too."

Mira giggled. "Yeah, they're always like that around each other. Even the moment they met they were like this. Although Gray is more powerful, I believe he found a friend to rely on in Natsu, and that is why he bothers to engage with him at all."

"Are you sure they don't just hate each other?" Lucy asked. "You know, fire and ice?"

"Don't let them fool you," Mira laughed. "They're actually best friends."

Lucy smiled. "If you say so, Mira."

Everything in the guild hall stopped when the doors burst open with a loud bang.

"I've got bad news!" Loke yelled, running back inside. "It's Erza! She's on her way here!"

The silence was so quiet that Lucy was sure she could hear a pin drop. A moment later everyone was screaming in horror or their complexion went completely pale. Hell, even Natsu and Gray stopped brawling. Lucy was shocked and silently freaked out by how the name Erza sent everyone into pandemonium. Happy and Natsu weren't exaggerating at all, and Gray. Well, since Gray can beat her, she can understand how only strict was the first thing that came to mind when she asked yesterday.

The air went completely still as she heard giant thudding in the distance. Lucy felt her heart clench, but her worries dissipated when she closed her eyes and analyzed Erza's magic. A smile instantly lit up Lucy's face. It was pure, like her own, yet much more fierce and her sheer willpower to protect her comrades was amazing. The strength she exuded was beyond incredible, and the magical pressure was a bit stifling, but Lucy embraced it. This is what good magic felt like. She was enthralled to meet the strongest woman in all of Fairy Tail. Maybe she'd ask for a few useful tips.

Lucy watched in away when a girl, about two years older, walked in clad in armor with a giant horn upon her should. How she was able to hold it up with one arm? Lucy had no clue. She did know that Erza was beautiful. Her scarlet hair fell across her shoulders and cascaded down her back in straight locks. The armor she wore made her look powerful and not to be trifled with. Lucy could see the scarlet woman's leg muscles ripple, and that's when Lucy knew this woman trained like no other.

Erza set down the giant horn, and it shook the guild hall. Everyone around her gave her space, and even though some knew her longer than Lucy did, they were still surprised by her strenth.

"I have returned," Erza announced. "Where is Master Makarov?"

"Welcome back, Erza," Mira greeted, not the least bit intimidated. "The master's at a conference right now."

"I see..."

"So, um, what's that humungous thing you got their?" Max asked.

"It's the horn of a monster I defeated," she said matter-of-factly. "The locals were so thankful that they decorated it and gave it to me as a souvenir." Her eyes narrowed at him. "Do you have a problem with it?"

Max flinched, taking a step back. "No, not at all."

"I bet she's heard about what happened at Mt. Hakobe," Cana whispered to Macao.

"You think so?" Macao asked sorrowfully. "Aw man, I'm a goner."

Lucy could only watch with wide eyes as Erza tore through everyone.

"Now listen up!" Erza barked. "While I was on the road, I heard a few things. Word is that Fairy Tail is causing nothing but trouble as of late. Master Makarov may not care, but I most certainly do! Cana!"

The brunette choked on her beer.

"You need to start controlling your drinking. Vijater!"

The dancer froze.

"Please take the dancing outside! Wakaba!"

Said man started coughing.

"You need to get rid of that filthy habit! Nab!"

The ever present man at the request board slumped.

"I suspected I would find you in front of the request board. Just pick a job! Macao!"

The older man braced himself.

She just sighed.

"Please just say something," Macao cried out.

Erza shook her head, her voice hopeless. "I don't even know where to begin with you. You cause so much trouble, I've almost given up."

Lucy could only watch and felt bad for everyone Erza was tearing into. She could now see why Gray really wasn't kidding when he said she was strict. It was almost like she was taking charge. Even though she seemed bossy, she was still saner than anyone else in the guild other than Gray to Lucy's opinion. She still didn't really understand why Natsu and Happy were afraid of her. She was not the demon or monster they were making her out to seem.

"Are Gray and Natsu here?" Erza asked.

"Hello to you too," Gray said, the calmest of everyone in the guild hall.

"At least you have your clothes on this time."

Gray only shrugged.

Lucy leaned toward Mira. "Am I missing something? Pervy Flasher? No clothes?"

Mira blinked. "Oh, he has a stripping habit. It's not so bad anymore. But it occasionally happens now and again."

"S-Stripping h-habit?" Lucy stuttered, face turning red.

"Yeah, his old teacher that taught him Ice Make magic had the same habit and kind of passed it onto him when he was little."

"That's...wow," Lucy stifled a laugh.

"It was so bad when he was smaller, he wouldn't even realize he was doing it, and he wouldn't even know where to look to try and find his clothes!"

"I'm really enjoying the cute childhood backstories," Lucy giggled.

Mira winked. "If you have _any_ questions, feel free to ask me."

"Are you and Natsu fighting?" Erza asked, a sharp edge to her voice.

Gray looked down, realizing he had Natsu in a headlock. He forced a smile on his face as his fist ground in Natsu's head. "No, we're not. Right, Natsu?" Now his voice had a nice sharp edge to it.

"Aye," was the only shaky reply the dragonslayer could muster.

Erza nodded. "That great! I'm quite pleased to see the two of you getting along so well." She looked at them with knowing eyes. "However, it's only natural for the best of friends to lock horns every once in a while.

"Sure," Gray said, rolling with it.

"Aye," Natsu squeaked.

"Why is he talking like Happy?" Lucy asked.

"Because he's scared," Mira laughed. "A few years ago he challenged Erza to a fight after watching Gray beat her. He thought he could do it do, but he only ended up getting beaten up pretty badly."

"Oh dear," Lucy gulped.

"I remember the day before that happened Erza beat up Gray because he was walking around naked," Macao chuckled. "The next day he challenged her, and everyone in the guild bet against him, but he showed her up."

Cana nodded. "That was pretty amazing. But let's not forget she also beat up Loke for trying to hit on her."

Lucy sweat-dropped. She could see that happening.

"Gray, Natsu, I need you to do me a favor," Erza addressed, grabbing everyone's attention. "When I was traveling I overheard something that has me worried. Normally, I would consult with the master before acting, but he's not here, and this is a matter of utmost emergency. The two of you are the strongest wizards here, and I could really use your help."

The guild whispered.

"Did you hear that?"

"Erza asking for help?"

"That's a first!"

"We'll meet at the train station tomorrow morning," Erza said.

Gray and Natsu regarded one another. Lucy could only bet they were wondering how the heck they were going to work together on the same team.

"Erza, Gray, and Natsu on the same team," Mira mumbled to herself in amazement. "I never saw that one coming. This could be the most powerful team Fairy Tail has ever seen!"

"Really?" Lucy awed. "That's amazing!"

Mira nodded. "You should go with them, Lucy."

The blonde shook her head. "I'd just get in the way. It seems really important."

"You could learn a thing or two, and Gray would take good care of you," Mira said with a wink.

"Mira!" Lucy flustered.

"Besides, you would really help Erza to keep those two in check. When they're on they're own, they're manageable, but together." Mira shook her head. "I have no idea what those two can do."

"But...how?"

"Your magic!" Mira advised simply. "It's rather peaceful and calming. You joined a magical guild, Lucy. Use it. Don't be afraid."

Lucy glanced down at hands that were capable of not only protecting others but hurting them as well. If she wanted to be more confident in her abilities, she needed to learn and observe first. She nodded at Mira, confidence seeping through her smile this time.

* * *

**_Well, um, there you go! Stay tuned! Hope you enjoyed all of that! Absolutely loved writing the GraLu bits, and Erza. That was just great! XD_**


	6. 5 5 5

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. These new-ish plot deviations are the only thing belonging to me. _**

**_Please read and review, but most of all, enjoy :) If you have any questions and concerns, just PM me or leave a comment. Thank you._**

* * *

**The Ice Devil's Angel**

**Chapter 5**

* * *

**5 5 5**

It was bright and early in the morning when Lucy arrived at the Magnolia train station. She was punctual, yet the first one there. She had her ticket, a small backpack of belongings, and was in comfortable clothing for the mission even though it was only to observe. Her hair was in its usual style, the French braid, and her clothes were similar to what she wore when she went on her first job with Gray.

The blonde tucked a loose strand behind her ear. She looked at her ticket and made her way to the platform for the train. Seeing nobody, she saw an empty bench and sat there waiting for the rest of the team. With a content sigh, she took out a book.

"What's a good looking girl like yourself doing out here all by yourself?" a voice asked.

Lucy's eyebrow twitched as she looked up. The stranger wasn't bad looking, but he had this strange look in his eye. Wait, was he undressing her with his eyes?! She inwardly cringed, clenching her fist. Did he just have to bother her? She just wanted to read her damn book.

"Waiting," she replied curtly.

He raised a brow. "And who would that be because I don't see anybody."

"That would be me," a steely voice declared.

Lucy turned her head in surprise to find none other than Gray in his signature white coat. A beautiful smile made its way on her face but faltered when she noticed how cold his eyes were. He glared at the stranger, who paled and took a step back, apologizing profusely before scurrying off deeper into the train station.

The blonde hesitated. "Uh, Gray..."

His expression softened when he looked at her. "He wasn't bothering you too much, was he?"

She smiled. "You saved me the trouble of using my right hook."

Before Gray could say anything, Natsu stomped up to the both of them with Happy in tow. The pink-haired fire mage was grumbling under his breath, but when he caught sight of Gray, he gave a full out groan of frustration.

"I hate this!" Natsu growled at Gray. "Teaming up with you is the worst idea ever!"

Gray frowned, rolling his eyes. "I'm not exactly happy about this either."

"Erza made a huge mistake asking you to come along!"

The ice mage coolly raised a brow. "That's funny. I'm more qualified than you, Flame Brain."

"How about you just take care of it yourself, Ice Princess. I don't want to be here anyway!"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Then I get to watch Erza beat you senseless."

Lucy could only sweatdrop as fire and ice clashed once again. So much for trying to mediate the two. She didn't really want to cause more of a scene, so she decided to just stay put. Despite Mira's sage advice.

"Do they always have to do this?" Lucy whined softly to herself.

"Hey, Lucy," Happy greeted, hopping onto the empty space beside her. "What are you doing here?"

"Mira told me I should tag along to learn. Plus, she wanted me to make sure Gray and Natsu don't fight too much."

"Well, you're not doing a really good job," Happy pointed out, nibbling on a piece of fish.

Lucy sighed. "They're hopeless."

"Sorry I'm late," Erza announced as she showed up.

Lucy suppressed a giggle when Gray and Natsu froze.

"Have you been waiting long?" she asked.

"No, not really," Lucy shook her head. She turned to face the redhead and gaped in amazement because of the huge amount of luggage she was casually dragging on a wooden dolley behind her.

"Ready to go, Natsu?" Gray asked, roughly wrapping his arm around the fire mage's shoulders.

"Aye!" Natsu squeaked.

Lucy blinked, shocked how they were able to change their behavior so quickly. She sighed, giving up at this point. This was the new normal.

"Good," Erza gently smiled. "I love to see the two of you getting along." She looked at Lucy. "And what was your name? I believe I saw you at the guild yesterday."

"My name's Lucy, and I just joined Fairy Tail," the blonde introduced. "Mira asked me to come along with you guys because she said I'd learn a thing or two. I hope that's okay with you."

"The more the merrier," the redhead agreed.

"Thank you so much," Lucy smiled. "I just hope I won't get in the way."

"Nonsense," Erza smiled. "I've heard a lot of great things about you from Gray yesterday."

Lucy blushed. "Oh, um, okay."

"I've heard that you have pure magic like my own. He told me you're still very inexperienced, but you pack quite the punch. You even punched Natsu without a problem apparently."

"It was an accident," she muttered, flustered.

"It's okay, Lucy," Erza chuckled. "It would be great to have a wizard like you on board."

"Thank you," Lucy bowed.

"Of course," Erza said. "Thanks for your help."

"It's my pleasure," Lucy replied.

"One more thing," the redhead began. "I've never heard Gray talk about anyone so highly. He sees a lot of potential in you, so I was wondering if you would like me to help train and hone your magic as well as your physical capabilities in combat? It'll help your confidence. How does that sound?"

Lucy's eyes shifted to Gray, who had Natsu in a chokehold at the moment. She smiled fondly at him before sliding her eyes back to Erza. "I'm honored. I was actually going to ask you for pointers as some point anyway."

"Great," Erza smiled. "We'll figure something out once we get back."

"Sounds good," Lucy smiled back.

The blonde felt an easy connection establish between the both of them. She thought it maybe had to do with the fact that Erza's magic was also pure, but it was more than that. Erza herself was just an amazing person, and Lucy couldn't help but feel so thankful to have met someone like her. It was like she was the older sister she wished she had when she was younger.

"Hey Erza," Natsu called. "I'll only come with you under one condition."

"Natsu," Gray warned.

"Oh?" Erza looked at him with interest. "Then let's hear it."

"Okay," Natsu smirked. "I want a rematch when we get back to Fairy Tail."

"Oh no," Happy sighed.

Gray rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Geez..."

"I'm a lot stronger than I was last time," Natsu continued. "This time will be way different because I'm going to beat you."

Erza gave a small smile, closing her eyes as if to sense Natsu's magic. "Yes, I can tell that you've improved. As to whether or not that you can beat me, I suppose we'll have to see." She stared him in the eye. "I accept your challenge."

"Oh yeah!" Natsu yelled, his body lighting on fire. "I'm all fired up!"

**5 5 5**

Just as the train lurched forward, Gray could only shake his head as Natsu's face turned green. The dragonslayer had beads of sweat running down his face, and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. What Gray didn't understand was a dragonslayer's vulnerability to moving vehicles. Laxus didn't really have that problem, but then again he didn't like to show any weakness. He was also a second generation dragonslayer, so maybe that was it too. Or maybe Natsu was just overly sensitive.

"I swear," Gray deadpanned. "You're totally pathetic, Natsu." His eyes glanced to the fire mage slumped beside him. "One minute you're picking a fight and the next you're like this."

"It must be tough on him getting place to place," Lucy said, eyeing Natsu with pity and concern.

"Don't worry," Erza waved off. "He'll be fine."

"Erza, can you...?" Gray trailed off, tilting his head to Natsu as a signal. The last thing he wanted was Natsu retching all over the place.

She only nodded. "Lucy, you wouldn't mind switching places with Natsu, would you?"

"No, of course not," she complied understandingly.

"Natsu, come sit here with me," Erza smiled gently.

Said fire mage pathetically crawled to the other side of the compartment and took Lucy's place. The blonde in turn sat down next to Gray, and Happy contently jumped into her arms. He purred as she scratched between his ears.

"Just relax," Erza coaxed.

"Aye," Natsu responded weakly, leaning onto her.

Gray watched in amusement as Erza took her fist back and solidly punched Natsu in the solar plexus. The dragonslayer's eyes bulged, and he gasped for air before falling onto Erza's lap, officially out cold.

"There," Erza said. "That should make the trip a little easier on him."

From the corner of his eye, Gray could see Lucy's complexion whiten slightly. He could only guess that she was thinking Erza seemed normal up until now by the look in her eye. His eyes trained themselves back to Erza, a load of questions on his mind. The fellow S-class mage wasn't exactly clear about what was going on. The way she sounded in the guild made him uneasy. Uneasy because Lucy decided to tag along, and he didn't want her to get hurt.

His midnight eyes snuck a furtive glance back to the beautiful blonde.

He'd would just have to keep an eye on her.

"So Erza," he began seriously. "I think it's about time you started filling us in. What kind of mission are we going on here?"

"Of course," Erza inclined. "I have reason to believe the dark guild Eisenwald is planning something big. I'm not sure what exactly, but it has to do with a magic item called Lullaby."

Gray's eyes clashed with Lucy's alarmed ones.

"That's the..." she trailed off, looking at him worriedly.

"Yeah," he muttered, remembering that day very clearly and how she almost slipped through his fingers and into the shadows. He jaw clenched. "We ran into some wizards coming back from a job, but some shadow snatched them off. They must've been from Eisenwald."

"I see," Erza murmured.

"I'm not positive," Gray replied. "But Lucy said they mentioned something about Lullaby."

"Yes," Lucy nodded. "They were scared."

"It sounds like they were members who dropped out of the guild and went into hiding," Erza analyzed. "Perhaps they wanted no part of whatever it is that's coming."

"It must be pretty bad if it even scares dark wizards," Gray commented.

"I'm only hypothesizing," Erza stated. "But whoever you saw dragging off those wizards that attacked you must've been from Eisenwald. It's obvious that they didn't want their plans getting out."

"What do you think they're going to try?" Lucy whispered, clutching onto Happy.

Erza closed her eyes. "Let me start from the beginning. Just the other day I was heading home after completing a job, I stopped by a pub in Onibas that I knew was a gathering spot for local wizards. There was this one group that caught my attention. They were antsy about something. They mentioned about finding Lullaby's location and some sort of seal that was blocking their access to it. I believe one of them in their group is a specialist with seals because he said he'd be able to figure it out in three days time."

"Lullaby," Lucy mumbled under her breath. A pensive expression came across her face as she chewed her lower lip."A song that sings kids to sleep..."

"Lucy?" Gray asked, raising a concerned brow.

"It's just that the name seems incredibly familiar," she explained. "But just the fact that it was sealed..." she trailed off.

"Yes, it must be very powerful magic," Erza continued.

"You sure the guys you saw at the pub are with Eisenwald?" Gray asked.

"Yes," Erza scowled. "I can't believe I was such a fool that day. I didn't recognize his name, but one of them mentioned the name Erigor. Erigor is the ace of Eisenwald. He only accepts assassination requests, which is why he's earned the name Erigor the Reaper."

Gray felt Lucy tense beside him.

"When the council outlawed assassination requests," Erza went on. "Eisenwald decided that money was more important than the council's rules. As a result, they were kicked out of their wizard league six years ago, but that didn't stop them. They've disobeyed orders and remain active to this day."

"Um," Lucy began unsurely. "I..."

Gray could easily see the fear in her eyes, and it was radiating off of her in waves. "Don't worry," he said. "Like I said the other day, I'll keep you safe."

She nodded shyly, a tiny smile on her lips.

"How could I have been so careless?" Erza grumbled angrily to herself, slamming her armored fist into Natsu's head. "If only I had recognized Erigor's name that day I could have pulverized them. I could have forced them to reveal their scheme to me."

Lucy paled while Happy muttered a small, "She's scary..."

"So, basically," Gray summarized. "Eisenwald's planning to do something with this Lullaby, and you want to stop them because after what you overheard you're sure it's going to be something bad."

"That's correct," Erza said. "And I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can take on an entire magical dark guild all by myself. That's why I asked for you and Natsu's help – we're storming the Eisenwald guild."

"Sounds like fun to me," Gray smirked.

"I wouldn't call that fun..." Lucy sweatdropped.

There was a sudden knock at their compartment door when the train attendant stepped in with a cart of food and drinks. Before anyone could blink, Erza had already ordered a tray of sandwiches and two slices of strawberry cheesecake. Gray held in an amused sigh as his fellow S-class guildmate's eyes sparkled as she ate atop Natsu's head. If someone asked him what he thought of Erza Scarlet, Titania, the strongest female wizard in Fairy Tail, the first thing that would pop into his mind would be that she was a sucker for sweets, especially cheesecake.

"Um...Erza," Lucy questioned curiously. "If you don't mind, what kind of magic do you use?"

"I practice–"

"Erza's magic is really pretty," Happy interjected with a creepy grin. "She makes her enemies bleed _a lot_."

An irritated mark appeared on Gray's forehead. He wanted to smack that cat for making Lucy really nervous now.

"Let's just say I'm a specialist with weapons," Erza offered. "As for pretty magic, I would have to give that title to Gray."

Lucy smiled. "Ice magic is really pretty."

Gray felt his cheeks heat up, so he quickly looked out the window. He could see Erza look at him through the window with a slight smirk on her face. He glared at her, but it was half-hearted as he tried cooling down his cheeks with a bit of his magic.

"Wait," Lucy said, turning to him with a delicately arched brow. "On our first mission, you said you knew three types of magic. You have Ice Make and Teleportation. What's the third?"

"Ice Devil Slayer magic," Erza answered. "That's where he got his alias, the Ice Devil."

"Devil slaying magic?" Lucy echoed in awe.

"Yeah," Gray said grimly. "It's kind of like Natsu's dragonslayer magic, except it's for demons."

"So you can eat ice to gain more power?"

"Precisely."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Lucy beamed.

"I usually stick to Ice Make because it takes less magic power," he explained.

"Makes sense." She paused, pursing her lips as a thought came to her. "Fire and ice... Is that why you and Natsu don't get along? You know, polar opposites?"

Erza chuckled. "I never thought about it like that."

Gray scoffed. "Nah, I just hate his guts."

Lucy gave him a knowing smile, so he nervously avoided her gaze.

**5 5 5**

It was maybe an hour later when the whole gang arrived at Onibas Station. It was Lucy's first time being there, but she knew it was no time for sightseeing. Gray was the first one off the train and mentioned something about renting a magic-mobile that would help them get around easier and faster. Erza got out second and started gathering her luggage while Happy sat and watched with a piece of fish in hand.

Lucy was gathering the rest of her things when she heard an audible groan from the ground. Her eyes widened as she immediately knelt down beside the dragonslayer. If Natsu hadn't made a sound, she would've walked right off the train without him. They were all just so busy talking that she almost forgot. She cast Natsu a sympathetic look because his magic was swishing around in a nauseous sort of way. His face was pale but not that sickly green when the train was moving.

"Natsu," she called, gently shaking the dragonslayer. "Natsu, you need to wake up."

He only groaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, but we really have to go!" Lucy urged. "Gray, Erza, and Happy are waiting!"

When she didn't get a response, Lucy sighed and wrapped Natsu's arm around her shoulder. She stumbled a little before righting herself. Geez, this guy was heavy and the heat that was radiating from his body was ridiculous!

Suddenly, the conductor announced the train was about to depart. Lucy struggled through the compartment door, but she wasn't fast enough since Natsu was literally hanging onto her like a lifeline. Much to her horror, the train lurched forward and began speeding up. Natsu's face immediately became green and held his hand to his mouth to prevent himself from spewing up his breakfast.

"Miss, we're going to have to move you and your friend back to economy since you haven't paid for the compartment for this part of the trip," a train attendant explained apologetically.

Lucy waved her hands. "It's quite all right, but I hope you don't mind giving a hand."

"What do you need help with, Miss?"

She silently pointed to Natsu, who groaned on the floor.

"Oh my! Of course!"

Between the both of them, they were able to move Natsu into a different train cart and accommodate him on the seat. She sat near the window and thanked the attendant before sighing and wondering how the heck they were going to meet up with the others. Lucy glanced her brown eyes around their new train cart and was surprised to see no one there except for them and some guy up front.

Natsu's magic restlessly whirled within him, and Lucy couldn't help but place her hand on his shoulder and rush her calming magic through his body. His sickly green face returned to a somewhat more normal color, but he still clenched his stomach.

"Did that help?" Lucy asked worriedly. "Or did I make it worse?"

Natsu flickered his slated eyes to her. "You're...full of...surprises," he managed to utter out with a pained smile. "Thanks, it's a bit more bearable now."

"Glad to hear," she smiled.

"Well, looky here," a voice said. "Fairy Tail wizards."

Lucy snapped her gaze up to see the man that was at the front of their train car earlier. Her magic shifted uncomfortably, but she didn't understand why since she couldn't really feel his magic. But if her magic was reacting like this, this guy only meant trouble.

"How's the guild treating you these days?" he asked. "Is it worth sticking around?"

"What?" Natsu groaned, finally looking up.

Lucy gasped and flinched when the guy suddenly kicked Natsu in the face. He roughly smothered his shoe.

"Don't act all high and mighty just because you're in a legal guild, Mister Fairy," the guy growled, eyes glinting maniacally. "You guys just blindly follow the rules of the magic council."

Despite Lucy's fear, she found her voice. "The rules are there for a reason."

"Rules are always meant to be broken," he scoffed.

She scowled at him. The aura he was giving off was repugnant and just plain wrong. What business did this guy have with them anyway?

"You guys are nothing but harmless little flies."

Natsu silently glared up at him, his fists becoming ablaze, and shoved the guy off of him. The dragonslayer stood up and got in a fighting stance.

"Lucy, step back! I got this."

"But–"

He gave her his fiery stare, and she couldn't help but hesitantly oblige.

"I'm going to turn you to ash," Natsu snarled.

"Oh, looks like I hit a nerve," the guy taunted.

"You–"

The train shook a bit. Lucy couldn't help but facepalm as Natsu's fists of fire became nothing but smoke as he clenched his stomach in pain.

"What kind of magic is that?!" the guy laughed. "Let me show you how it's done!"

An intricate dark purple magic circle appeared beneath the guy's feet. Before Lucy could even blink, three shadows lunged from the magic circle and hit Natsu squarely in the jaw. The shadows wisped around him, almost like they had a life of their own. Her eyes widened, as did Natsu's. That magic! It was the same they encountered two days ago!

"Natsu!"

"Yeah, I know!"

The train suddenly pitched to a harsh stop, the wheels screeching and sparks flying in the air. She yelped as she fell backward and slammed against the back of the train cart. Natsu rolled backward while their assailant tripped forward, something came flying out of his coat. It was a wooden flute of some sort with a three-eyes skull at the top.

"No way," Lucy breathed shakily, eyes wide in horror. "Natsu, grab the flute!"

"Huh?" was his intelligent reply. "You mean that weird thing?" he asked, pointing to the object of their future demise.

"Yes! It's Lull–"

"Shut up!" the guy barked, grabbing hold of the deadly flute.

Lucy squeaked as she barely dodged a shadow heading her way.

"Asshole!" Natsu growled, one of his fists lighting on fire. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Dark Shadow!"

Lucy shielded her eyes with her arms as the explosion rocked the train and blew off the roof of the train car. The windows shattered, spraying glass everywhere, and the seats were nothing but debris. The blonde coughed as the smoke billowed out into the sky.

"Little fly, huh?" Natsu sneered.

"Lucky shot," the guy spat.

"Attention all passengers, our emergency stop was a false alarm. We will be departing again shortly," the PA system announced.

"Aw crap," Natsu blanched. "Lucy, we got to go!"

"Hold it right there!" the guy yelled. "I'm not letting you get away that easily! You're messing with Eisenwald now!"

Lucy's brows furrowed. If he was with Eisenwald and had the flute... That meant he was the one Erza was talking about! The one that was good with seals!

"Eisenwald, huh?" Natsu scowled. "I'll show you what happens when people mess with Fairy Tail!" He cracked his knuckles. "How about we take this outside?"

"Natsu, we need to leave because the train will–"

As if on cue, the train jolted causing Natsu to slouch forward with his hand over his mouth. Lucy staggered with the momentum of the train, but she was able to catch herself just in time to save herself from a painful face plant.

"Let's...get off this...bloody thing," Natsu wheezed.

"Right behind you," Lucy agreed.

He wrapped an around her waist.

"Wait, Natsu, what are you doing?"

He silently perched himself near the broken window, getting ready to jump off the speeding train.

"No," Lucy refused, shaking her head. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Are you crazy?!"

Natsu grinned.

Lucy screamed as the dragonslayer jumped.

**5 5 5**

Gray was in a foul mood.

He glared at the papers in his hands, more specifically at the outrageous amount. Renting a magic-mobile wasn't usually expensive, but this was ridiculous. He was thinking of threatening the guy when some army officers walked by, so he thought better of it. He decided he'd get back at the renting company through Natsu's hate for moving vehicles.

The ice mage sighed as he made his way back to the platform. He easily spotted Erza as she finished stacking her crapload of luggage on the wooden dolley. He saw Happy nibbling on some fish, as he always did, atop the stack of luggage.

"You guys ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Erza nodded.

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

Gray furrowed his brows, noticing they were two short. He flicked his eyes and scanned the surrounding area, but he couldn't see pink or gold anywhere nor could he feel their magic in the vicinity. He grew concerned.

"Where's Lucy and Natsu?" he asked.

Everyone froze when they heard the train whistle in the distance.

"Uh oh..." Happy panicked.

Gray remained silent as he quietly seethed at the stupidity of everything.

Erza swore. "I was so busy talking and gathering my luggage I forgot about them!"

Gray just sighed. "Knowing Lucy, she was trying to help Flame-Brain off the train but was a little too late..."

"Aye..."

"I am such a fool!" Erza scolded herself. "This is all my fault! Gray, I need you to come and hit me for my penance!"

Gray bonked her on the head. "Erza, focus."

"Right, I apologize."

"How can we catch up to them?" Happy asked.

Gray waved the papers in his hand. "We have a magic-mobile, but we'll need to stop the train first."

"The emergency brake!" Erza realized.

The three of them traveled to the mechanical room, and Gray sweat-dropped when Erza busted the door open with a powerful kick. Unnecessary but flashy, just like Fairy Tail members usually were. Gray could only watch as Erza, in all her glory, pulled the lever much to a worker's dismay.

"What do you think you're doing lady?!" he yelled. "You can't pull the emergency lever without permission!"

"It's for our comrade," she explained. "Please understand."

"Are you kidding me?!" His voice was exasperated.

"Now, I would like you to take our luggage to the hotel," she told.

"Do I _look _like a bellhop?!"

She ignored the worker. "Gray, Happy, let's go."

"Erza," Gray began slowly. "You do realize once we leave he's going to switch the lever, right?"

"Is that so?" Erza gazed at the worker, impassively summoning a sword out of nowhere.

He paled before passing out.

Gray massaged his temples, feeling an oncoming headache. Maybe Lucy was right when she said that Fairy Tail mages weren't normal, but he should be used to this by now. Speaking of Lucy, he hoped she was okay. He wasn't as worried because Natsu was with her, so if any trouble came on their end, he could trust him.

"He should be out for a while," Erza observed, grabbing her luggage. "Let's go while we still have time."

"Right, follow me," Gray said.

He led them to their rented magic-mobile and was not pleased when Erza forcefully stuffed him in the back with all her luggage. The ice mage tried to politely suggest that he drive because her driving skills were insane, not that he'd ever say anything, but the redhead wanted to as her job of atonement.

Gray swore when they hit a bump. The magic-mobile launched in the air, the luggage and himself floating in the air, before roughly landing and screeching along the dirt road.

Happy groaned, rubbing his head in pain. "Ow, that hurt..."

"You hit your head?"

"Yeah..."

"Need some ice?"

The car jerked again almost causing Happy to fly out the window if Gray hadn't caught him by the tail. He set Happy down with a block of ice for his head and grumbled when he wasn't able to find a damn seatbelt. So much for his money's worth...

"Gray!" Erza called, her voice faint.

He poked his head out the window, the wind rustling through his hair. "Yeah, what?"

"The train's up ahead! It started moving again! There's some smoke, which I'm guessing is Natsu! I'll drive faster to catch up so you can jump on to see what's going on!"

Before Gray could even put a word in, the redhead flowed her magic through the SC plug causing the car to surge forward jerkily. He steadied himself and squinted his eyes to see the billowing smoke come from one of the train cars further ahead. Wondering what the idiot could've dragged Lucy into, Gray climbed out the window to the roof of the car. He grabbed the edges of the car as the car flew and jerked over some uneven parts of the road. When it became smooth again, he forced himself into a kneeling position, his white coat flapping behind him, prepared to jump onto the moving train.

There was a sudden scream that froze all his movements.

The air suddenly left his lungs as a flash of gold barreled into him, his vision blurring from the pain. They flew off the roof of the car and should've landed on rocky terrain, but it was something much softer, almost like feathers. He turned his head to look, but his vision was temporarily blurred, so he couldn't really tell.

Soft hands held his face, and his eyes met...two blurry Lucy's.

"Oh my god, Gray! I'm so sorry!" she apologized.

The ice mage blinked forcefully until two became one crystal clear Lucy. Her hair and clothes were a bit disheveled but other than that she looked just fine. A heaviness on his conscious, that he didn't realize was there, lifted.

"Please don't make a habit of jumping off of trains," was all he managed to say.

She laughed, dropping her hands to his chest. "I promise."

His fingers gripped into the soft ground, and he lifted a handful of whatever they landed on. He was surprised to see they were indeed feathers. Not just white but with a tint of gold – a trademark of Lucy's magic. He had no clue when and how she did it so fast, but he was grateful.

"Are you two lovebirds done over there?" Happy snickered, his paws trying to stifle his smug laughter.

Gray was about to wittily retort when he realized just how close Lucy and he were.

"S-Sorry!" Lucy squeaked, blushing as she scrambled off of him.

Gray stood up and dusted himself off. He easily noticed the awkward atmosphere and now the mindful distance Lucy put between them. The glare he sent to Happy had the cat's hair on end. He was going to give that cat a piece of his fucking mind.

"Let's go check on Erza and Natsu," Gray suggested, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, okay," Lucy nervously smiled.

Erza had screeched the car to a stop up ahead and was currently attempting to wake the motion sick Natsu, but her efforts backfired since her incessant shaking led the dragonslayer to unfortunately retch his breakfast. Luckily, it wasn't on Erza.

"Are you guys okay?" Erza asked them.

"Yeah, we're fine," Gray answered.

Natsu groaned, standing up. "Damnit, ugh, why'd you guys leave us on the train?"

"Just be thankful you and Lucy weren't badly injured. I apologize, Natsu. I know how much you hate transportation," Erza acknowledged, slamming Natsu head into her armor as some sort of embrace.

"It's okay!" he yelped in pain.

"You too, Lucy! I'm so sorry," Erza apologized again.

"It's okay, Erza!"

"So, what exactly happened to you guys?" Gray couldn't help but ask. "We could see smoke coming from the train miles away."

"Man, we're pretty shaken up," Natsu started. "Lucy and I got attack by some weirdo on the train. I think it was the dude that dragged away the guys that were going to eat Happy the other day."

Gray frowned. "What did he want?"

"He didn't want anything from us," Natsu scowled. "That asshole was just picking a fight."

"Did he say anything else?" Erza pressed on.

"Said he was with Eisenwald or something."

"You fool!" Erza snapped, slapping the spit out of Natsu's mouth.

Lucy winced while Gray was glad that wasn't him.

"That is exactly who we're chasing after on this mission!" Erza yelled. "Why did you let him get away?!"

Natsu looked confused. "What the? This is the first time I'm hearing about this!"

"I explained everything on the train! You should listen when people talk to you!"

"Um, did she forget that she's the one that knocked him out?" Lucy tentatively asked.

"Yup," Gray nodded.

"That's Erza for you," Happy laughed.

**5 5 5**

If Erza didn't have so much luggage, the magic-mobile would have easily fit all of them. Sadly, that wasn't the case, so they had to make do with what they had. Since Lucy didn't want to sit neck to a sickly Natsu, and neither did Gray, the both of them ended up sitting squashed together on one side while Natsu hung his head out the window. Happy, as usual, magically had fish in his hand.

"Well, so what was this guy like?" Gray asked curiously.

"He...didn't..." Natsu struggled, wheezing for his breath. "Hate...transportation..."

Lucy pitied him, so she decided to answer for him.

"He didn't really look like anyone from a dark guild," she murmured. "I couldn't really feel his magic either, but something felt off about him nonetheless."

"Flute...thingy...three eyes...ugh..."

"Flute?" Gray repeated.

"Lullaby," Lucy clarified. "I knew it when I saw it."

"Is it a song played on the flute?" Happy asked.

"Sort of like that, yeah," Lucy nodded. "I wasn't sure until I saw it, but now that I did I know exactly what it is."

"I feel like I'm not going to like this," Gray muttered.

"Lullaby is The Cursed Song," Lucy said grimly. "It's death magic."

She could feel Gray still beside her, and the magic in his body almost roared to life.

"Gray?" she whispered.

"Like an incantation?" he finally inquired.

"I'm not sure," Lucy furrowed her brows. "I've only ever read about it in a book, but it's definitely a forbidden spell. I was able to get a glimpse of the flute, and it almost seemed like it was alive."

"It's not just some flute, it's a demon."

"Demon?!"

"A demon from the Book of Zeref."

No wonder his magic roared to life, or specifically his devil slayer magic. It was ready to be used after being dormant for so long. Lucy concentrated on Gray's magical entity and was able to separate his different magical abilities. His Ice Make was a crytal blue, his Teleportation a nice silver, while his devil slayer was a navy blue, almost black. She almost gasped at the sheer intensity it was emitting.

"Lucy?"

"N-Nothing," she stuttered. She could feel his gaze burning the side of her head. "How...how do you know?"

She could feel him smirking now. "I'm not a devil slayer for nothing. It's my job, and it would also explain why you felt that it was alive."

"That's right..."

"It's too ironic," Happy shivered. "A lullaby is supposed to sing kids to sleep, but this Lullaby apparently sings people into oblivion. And that means that Eisenwald's planning to play it."

"But where?" Lucy pondered.

"That's why we need to follow the guy who attacked you and Natsu on the train," Gray reasoned.

The magic-mobile suddenly jerked to the side as it made a sharp turn. Since the terrain was so uneven, the magic-mobile jolted up. Lucy yelped as she felt herself flying, but one of Gray's arms easily held her down so as not to hit her head. The magic-mobile roughly landed and continued speedily on its way.

Gray angrily rapped on the window that was stationed behind the driver.

"Erza, slow down!" Gray yelled. "You're using up too much of your magic driving this thing!"

"I have no choice but to press onward!" Erza replied, her voice muffled. "If what you and Lucy said is right, then we're running out of time! If Erigor gets his hands on Lullaby – trust me – lives will me lost!"

Lucy didn't even think it was possible, but the magic-mobile sped up even more.

"Curse them!" Erza snarled. "This is madness!"

She couldn't help but agree.

* * *

_**Sorry for the wait, but I finally got this baby done. Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think, please! Have a great day, and smile because you guys are awesome!**_


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